The Willow Play Cafe, in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood, is a hybrid of sophistication and whimsy. Local practices Denizens of Design and DS Studio transformed a dive bar into a warm, inviting coffee spot – with wood panelling, a coffered ceiling, checkerboard linoleum flooring, vintage bentwood chairs and soft lighting – that morphs into an Alice in Wonderland setting through a keyhole-shaped portal.
The play zone is just as thoughtfully designed as the front of shop – no garish game signage, here. Just a wonderfully crafted space for kids to explore, featuring Lite Brite walls, green foam steps and a cherry-red slide.
Owner Christina DiAdamo was driven by her own experience – both as a tech entrepreneur and as a parent of young kids – when she decided to launch this new kind of gathering space. “This was never meant to be just a place to let your child run around,” she explains, via the project’s press release. “There is a huge focus on STEM-based play and educational philosophies like the Reggio Emilia approach. Every element is designed to support curiosity, creativity, and development.”
A nice little café where parents can linger over a latte while their kids explore on their own – the setting embodies what the designers characterize as a “third space” for families in the city. For Denizens and DS Studio, the interior concept is captured in the motif of the willow tree, whose “presence is suggested through form, color, and movement.” As the designers explain in the press release, “Objects appear to shift and transform. What reads as cafe millwork becomes play infrastructure. What feels decorative becomes interactive.”
To wit, this is a generously considered interior. The front of shop features round-edged millwork with storage along the base for shoes; look up, and a drop ceiling with amoeba-like cutouts signals again that this is a fun-loving space. In the play area beyond the keyhole, STEM-based activities are embedded directly into the wood panelling.
And everything was designed for safety, from the rubber flooring to the sculptural foam steps and the climbing and sliding elements that activate the two-tier play structure, where mesh-filled cutouts provide peek-a-boo spots for kids on the second level.
The party room at the very back features a kitchen niche with a playful yellow bead motif, cabinetry with squiggly fronts, and a faux-plant canopy that ties the space the together.
“We wanted everything to feel like it belongs,” says Denizens founder Dyonne Fashina. “Nothing is decorative for its own sake. The cafe and the play world are one. Every element serves both imagination and use.” As a third space for families, the Willow Play Café might inspire others just like it, new chapters in this lovely fairy tale setting.
“Design has the power to shape how communities live,” says Fashina. “The Willow is gentle, curious, and resilient, just like the tree it is named for. It is a place for pause, for wonder, and for growing together.”
To see this and other works by the practices, visit denizens.ca and dsstudio.ca.
Photos by Scott Norsworthy
