Ducon and architects Six Degrees have delivered their answer to the The Kids Under Cover Cubby House Challenge.
The competition brings together members of the building industry to design, build and decorate highly creative and unique children's cubbies for public viewing and subsequent raffle and auction.
The Ducon/Six Degrees concept is based around the idea that a cubby house is much more than place for pint-sized people to play.
“It creates an imaginative space where kids can dream, learn, invent, create and grow. In short, it is life sustaining; it connects kids to the real and imaginative worlds that foster life. It is on this foundation that Cubby Life is built,” the team said.
“Cubby Life is a sanctuary that kids can retreat to a place of their own, where the screen-mediated world is unplugged and where they can embrace their dreams and their friendships. Its innovative, sustainable design encourages kids to commune with nature, to interact with the space and to let their imaginations run free.”
Botanical walls and a planter fed by rainwater-runoff create tactile, scented surfaces that connect kids with nature and with the need to sustain these living elements.
Recycled timbers and products introduce changing colour and texture, and suggest expanded lifecycles materials creatively reused rather than expended and turfed out after first use.
Plywood guarantees functionality and robustness for long life, essential to the play of children.
Pigeon holes and under-seat storage form appealing hideaways, spaces for secreting much-loved toys, diaries, notes, books, found objects and the like. They allow kids to manage their space and their favourite things, revealing them only as they please.
The daybed offers a soft surface on which to play, converse or nap. And while Cubby Life is an enclosed sanctuary, it also unfolds.
A wall draws back to let nature and light flood in and to let the garden bridge the space between the cubby and the home. Ducon explains: “Cubby Life is the domain of its small inhabitants.”
When the Cubby Challenge came up, says Ducon director Peter Mason, “I was excited at the prospect of building something specifically for kids, which would connect them with nature, disconnect them from screen-time and would help develop their resourcefulness and independence.
“I was especially happy to be part of a Kids Under Cover project, helping raise funds to address the very real problem of at-risk and homeless youth in the community.
Ducon works closely with architects and the clients, using a common interest approach in which each is a valued partner in the delivery of exceptional results.
Like Ducon, Six Degrees has a people-oriented philosophy, so a collaboration that enriches the experience of childhood is a perfect endeavour, with designer and builder bringing their specific skills and common interest to the service of kids.
All are invited to contribute tpo the cause by donating online or by bidding on the cubby house at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show live auction, Sunday April 1at 3pm.
