The family studio is located on the second floor of a two-story ground floor of an older apartment building in the housing estate of Devínská Nová Ves. The ground floor originally housed shops and a police station, the Family Studio was last used as a gym, and before that, a butcher shop.
The basic load-bearing system consists of reinforced concrete columns with beams on which prefabricated ceiling panels are placed. After dismantling the damaged slatted ceiling, we left the entire clear height of the space exposed in the designed space - 3.8m.
In terms of layout, we based the overall concept of the reconstruction on the fluidity of light and the movement of its future users - i.e. families with children of all ages. Only the toilets, located right at the entrance, and a small warehouse in the back were separated by solid doors. All other spaces, including two studios and a waiting lounge zone for mothers, are visually interconnected through glass doors, windows in carpentry partitions or sliding doors that can be fully retracted and thus become invisible. This way, the little ones never get lost and mothers have their children under supervision.
The first smaller studio is commonly used as a playroom or for individual art therapies. It is separated from the lounge zone by an inserted carpentry partition that has two entrances with sliding doors, an inserted seating area with a view of the studio, a Montessori library, storage spaces for folding furniture and storage spaces for therapeutic aids in the form of pull-outs accessible from the playroom. During art therapies, the large glazing can be visually separated with textile blinds and thus ensure the necessary privacy. In the small studio, there is also an art cabinet - a storage space for art supplies in a niche between two windows. Under the windows, both studios have designed benches with backlighting, which, in addition to classic seating, can also be used as tables for the smallest children.
The second large studio is accessible from the lounge zone through glass doors, but also from the smaller studio. It consists of 3 separate, height-separated zones - the main work zone with a kitchenette, a podium and a "hiding room" on the warehouse ceiling. The working zone uses the full height of the space. The podium is raised by 4 steps with classic tribune seating and there are additional storage spaces hidden in the form of pull-outs. The longer wall, the so-called "artwall", is equipped with bulletin board marmoleum so that drawings and rolls of paper can be easily attached to it. The hiding room on the warehouse ceiling is accessible by a ladder and equipped with safety nets against falling, and serves primarily as a relaxation zone. In case of need to visually separate the large studio from the other rooms, we designed a system of curtains installed on the wall, which can be used to cover the doors. However, these also serve as a curtain when the children hold a vernissage of their paintings on the wall designated for that purpose.
We built the visual concept on the contrast between the original untreated concrete in the upper part of the space and the smooth light surfaces in the lower part. We modified the walls and visually unified them with a smooth plaster trowel only up to the height of the door openings - which from a user's point of view cleaned and brightened the space. The upper part, treated only with anti-dust paint, remained in its original state, so the space did not lose its character, and what's more - it brings the industrial look of a real art studio to children's creation. We deliberately did not use any prominent large-scale color accents in the space, they will come naturally to children's creation. Marmoleum on the floors in subtle green shades reflects and draws the trees from the exterior into the interior and feels very natural to the touch. The lighting circuits are adapted to user comfort. Industrial squares ensure sufficient lighting comfort with an anti-reflective and color-distorting component for all creative activities, hanging lamps are used for relaxation, yoga or children's parties.
The entire space, including toilets and the entrance hall with a cloakroom, is fully functional, flexible and designed for any kind of creative, leisure or educational activities.