52 Arts targets kids from three to twelve years old with a welcoming, fun and flexible space to host a comprehensive range of art classes for western painting, Chinese painting, pottery and crafts. Both purpose-driven and mind-stimulating through and through, the design presents kids and adults alike with an unexpected spatial experience to inspire creativity and beauty, much as the founding principles of the school suggests.

It begins with a well-lit, bright and welcoming entrance inspired by drawing tools come in warm pastel colours. The central structural column has been adorably sculpted as a floor-length, plump and paintbrush, in addition to another slender one in the form of a yellow tube which stretches across the interiors – its white brush tip as a custom-made line feature linking the reception and the kid’s gallery.

The emphasis on whole-person development requires corresponding spaces which can facilitate classes to encourage both individual and group learning. Drawing inspiration from galleries to showcase the very best of kids’ masterpieces, a bright, carefree and welcoming experimentation ground with paintings prepare them for a journey of discovery. While vibrant wooden houses are nurturing ground for free-thinking individuals, there are also open spaces which encourage conversation and exchange of ideas among kids, parents and teachers. In addition, a library offers an airy reading environment, whereas a storytelling forum, imaginatively lit by translucent flying books, also encourages kids to learn from each other.

Lovely surprises await even in the washroom, including a custom-made design not dissimilar to buckets of water falling overhead which highlights the space, stimulates kid’s curiosity and invites interaction with space. It also wrapped around in sleek curvaceous walls which echo throughout the interiors.

Overall, kids are meant to get rewarded at 52 Arts with some fruitful moments of boundless creativity, rather than being forced through another after-school class in traditionally cramped and rigid teacher-versus- student settings. Here, they can develop their full potentials in an open and stress-free learning environment which puts safety and kids’ requirements first and foremost.

Designed by PAL Design Group
Photography by Dick Liu