Published in Melbourne Architecture
This is a tiny project with a tiny budget but it harbours a big idea & a great social ambition: the reuse of four shipping containers to create a children's play & activity centre for the City of Port Phillip that is full of spatial interest, fun spaces for kids & with a strong message about recycling & sustainability. Peter Ho & his team at PHOOEY have cleverly aligned, cut & taken apart, & relocated portions of the containers to provide a roof deck, shed walls, balustrading, & sunshading. Container doors become building fins, recycled timbers & the existing supergraphic brand of Maersk becomes part of the building's decorative scheme. Inside where kids have craft & painting sessions, carpet tiles line floor, walls & ceiling, there's a sense of busy intimacy while outside the landscaping of concrete disc pavers & giant river pebbles are another addition to the already rich array of play spaces at Skinners Playground, South Melbourne's secret garden of play.
Excerpt from
Goad, P (ed) 2010, Melbourne Architecture, The Watermark Press, Boorowa.