fenhom·URO’s animal adventure island park strengthens parent-children bonds in china

Fenhom·URO strikes a balance between learning and playing

Striking a harmonious balance between education and leisure, and independence and community, Fenhom·URO has completed the Animal Adventure Island park in Meishan, China, as a ‘parent-child paradise’. Centered around the concept of ‘learning while playing, and playing while learning’ and strongly rooted in nature, the park creates a space where children can play alongside their parents and strengthen their bond, while also maintaining their personal and spiritual peace.

The project’s lead architect, Ying Zhang, looks to nature’s animal kingdom to devise the space’s design concept. Four different animals feature across the Animal Adventure Island, each symbolizing four distinct personality traits that convey important values to the children for their wellbeing and development. A lion, elephant, zebra, and parrot respectively stand for characteristics of communication, exploration, courage, and wisdom.

fostering bonds between children and their parents

With its Animal Adventure Island, design studio Fenhom·URO aims to unite the values of education and personal growth with interactive and spiritual fun in a playful atmosphere. Driven by Ying Zhang’s belief in maintaining ‘the emotion of proper distance,’ the project focuses on the interaction and bond between parents and children, and their individual growth.

‘The best relationship between parents and children is to keep each other company but leave each other’s spiritual space… Too close is easy to lose the personal space that each person needs for the individual, causing anxiety; too far away will make the parent-child relationship too unfamiliar,’ notes the architect.

Various forms of children’s behavioral activities are considered in the space, including interactivity and play areas, quiet rest spots and reading nooks, and guesthouses for the family. In the open recreation area, small animals are scattered around the space. Throughout the various functional areas, children are encouraged to climb across the frames, jump into the bubble pool, pile up trees, hide away in enclosed niches while they talk and play with one another. 

Parents are able to accompany their children on their adventures through the leisure spaces, strengthening their communication and bond, or observe from the waiting areas to allow them to explore their independence.

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project info:

name: Animal Adventure Island

location: Meishan, China
architecture: Fenhom·URO
lead architect: Ying Zhang

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