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A Tinted Glass Facade That Inspires Play

 

Would your kids be more motivated to play and get exercise if they could be immersed in fun, bright colors while doing so?

That’s the hope and theory behind this remarkable sports and recreation center in Saint-Cloud, France, where a tinted glass facade and bold interior color ignite the energy of all who pass by. French architecture firm KOZ (Christophe Ouhayoun and Nicolas Ziesel) used the bright splashes of color very strategically – in an otherwise low-key neighborhood, full of historic buildings – not to shock, but rather to attract families to the space and to visually delineate areas within the space through a kind of color coding.

 

All images by Stephan Lucas (via ArchDaily)

 

The large glass facade gives outsiders a view into the fun happening inside, while also providing the interior with ample natural light. From the pictures, one might almost think it’s totally clear, with the interior colors beaming right through, but that’s not the case. Instead, the glass is tinted with wide stripes of color that move dynamically from red to green, offering a bit of privacy to the space, as well as shade from the sun.

 

 

No surprise that parents and teachers love this space just as much as their kids. If only all sports complexes could be designed with such thoughtful attention to the impact of glass and color!