BLOX _ play nets

In May 2018, BLOX, a mixed-use building in Copenhagen designed by OMA, was festively inaugurated by the Danish Queen. BLOX is home to the Danish Architecture Center (DAC) and includes exhibition spaces, offices, a café, a bookshop, a fitness center, twenty-two apartments and an underground car park.

Part of the complex is a publicly accessible, playable staircase, that Carve further developed in collaboration with OMA. The tribune is an integral part of the BLOX-building and evokes movement and play. Slides, trampolines and netting where children can jump, climb and scramble are integrated into the large staircase. In several spots, the nets are spanned over a void, creating an exciting dialogue between 'up' and 'underneath'. Due to the height differences of the staircase, seats arise where parents can sit in between the playing children.

Apart from the playable tribune, Carve also designed a site specific play- and sport structure for this location. The vertical play element, wedged in between the tribune and the sports field, is a 3D maze consisting of honeycomb shaped elements. It fits perfectly in the series of vertical play objects that Carve has been renowned for. Also this element allows for many children to play at the same time; the number of routes are endless. The upper part of the elements can be used for scaling and sliding. The honeycomb elements take on the ocher colour of the surrounding buildings, whose yellow plastered facades are typical for Danish housing.

This playscape blurs the boundaries between playground, seating and other activities on the square and contributes to the liveliness of the harbour front of Copenhagen.