(Don’t) Act Your Age
“There were very serious men in suits climbing walls and taking slides. They were people that you would never expect to be playful if you saw them on the street,” says ADEPT co-founder, Martin Krogh.
Could thinking like a kid be valuable in the workplace? Ku.Be by MVRDV and ADEPT is a new typology for a community building designed to encourage play and bring out the inner child in users.
Visitors to the new community centre in Copenhagen’s Frederiksberg district could take the stairs, but the climbing walls, slides and rope ladders are a much more fun way to move around – and they are definitely not just for kids.
Ku.Be – a portmanteau of kultur and bevaegelse, the Danish words for ‘culture’ and ‘movement’ – is a collaboration between Dutch studio MVRDV and Danish architects ADEPT that incorporates a mix of disparate building types into one. From library to cooking school and gym to theatre all aim to bring out the inner child in even the most sensible of visitors to encourage an active lifestyle outside of a regular gym. “The idea was not just to make a culture house, but to create a whole new typology that hasn’t been played with before,” says Martin Krogh, co-founder of ADEPT.
Instead of traditional floorplans the building has six volumes – or zones – each designed for a very specific purpose, with everything from an educational kitchen in the FoodZone to a running track in the PulsZone and a 300-seat theatre in the PerformanceZone. Each zone is uniquely configured for its purpose, creating complex volumes contained within the rectangular form of the 4,000 square-metre building that encourages people to explore.
To get from one zone to another, visitors navigate the PlayZone. The irregular space, formed where the various zones meet, has been filled with all manner of unconventional elements that seem more suited to a playground than a community centre. “You can climb up a wall or a rope ladder and then slide down a pole, or a concrete slide,” says Jacob van Rijs, co-founder of MVRDV. “As you move around the building, you can see all the different activities taking place, encouraging people to try new things.” Looking in from the outside, the PlayZone is visible through glazed sections, and the other zones are concealed behind a ceramic-tiled façade, creating a sense of intrigue.
To appeal to adult sensibilities, the play equipment was realised in a sophisticated neutral palette of silver, black, timber and concrete while the building itself is a riot of colourful walls. “Everybody has some kind of playfulness in their character,” says van Rijs. “Ku.Be is designed to bring that out of people. The whole building is a holistic play element.”
It certainly seems to be working. At the recent opening, a twelvehour event that ran until 3:00am and was attended by Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, the designers were surprised at how much adults embraced the playful concept. “There were very serious men in suits climbing walls and taking slides,” says Krogh. “They were people that you would never expect to be so playful if you saw them on the street.”
“It’s a building with no fixed idea of what kinds of activities can take place within – the users will take the building and use it in the ways they think best,” adds van Rijs. “It’s a beautiful idea, and I hope it can operate in reality. I want people to see it and think it’s cool and want to do something similar in their space.” And if the reaction of the straight-laced men in suits are anything to go by, then we may well be looking at the very first blueprint for ‘playtime working’.
“Everybody has some kind of playfulness in their character. Ku.Be is designed to bring that out of people.
The whole building is a play element.”
“You can climb up a wall or a rope-ladder and then slide down a pole, or a concrete slide. As you move around the building, you can see all the different activities taking place, encouraging people to try new things.” Jacob van Rijs.