"Quietly magical" Toronto cafe provides family-friendly third place

### 多功能家庭咖啡空间设计新风尚 多伦多的The Willow Play Cafe以其温馨且富有设计感的环境，成为年轻家庭理想的社交与休憩场所。设计团队巧妙融合自然元素与实用玩乐空间，使父母能安心放松，孩子们也能自在玩耍。 Toronto's Willow Play Cafe provides a welcoming environment combining thoughtful design and family-oriented functionality. This innovative space offers parents a calm area to unwind while keeping children entertained in a safe, playful setting. 这家咖啡厅坐落于原本的老旧酒吧，经过改造变成一个面向社区的共享空间。内部选用核桃木装饰，营造温暖成熟的氛围。入口处设有波浪形的吧台，顾客可先点饮品，随后进入融合休闲与游戏的区域。 Located in a repurposed dive bar, the cafe transforms the space into a community hub. Walnut paneling envelops walls and ceilings, creating an elegant yet cozy ambiance. The wavy service counter at the entrance invites customers to order before moving on to the combined lounge and play areas. 设计理念强调家长与孩子的紧密联系。座位区和游乐区紧密相邻，孩子们可以在绿色泡沫阶梯和红色滑梯间自由探索，家长则能轻松观察。互动墙和创意玩具巧妙地融入建筑细节，强化沉浸式体验。 The design prioritizes proximity between parents and children, with seating integrated directly next to play zones. Kids enjoy foam steps leading to a mezzanine hideout and a slide, while interactive features such as peg walls blend seamlessly into the architecture, enhancing engagement. 除了主要空间，咖啡厅还设有用于举办各类聚会和工作坊的多功能房间。精心设计的细节如花卉天花板和复古照明，营造出既实用又充满想象力的环境，体现空间整体的统一性和功能多样化。 Beyond the main areas, the cafe includes versatile rooms for events and workshops. Thoughtful touches—like floral ceiling installations and vintage lighting—create an imaginative yet practical setting, highlighting cohesive design and diverse uses. 这座独特的空间不仅满足了社区年轻家庭的需求，也展示了设计师对将亲子互动与美学兼顾的追求，使咖啡厅成为真正意义上的“第三空间”。 This distinctive venue meets the needs of young families while showcasing a commitment to blending style and function. The Willow Play Cafe redefines the concept of a “third place” by seamlessly integrating family interaction with sophisticated design. {"format":{"type":"text"},"verbosity":"medium"}

Toronto firms Denizens of Design and DS Studio have created a community space in the city's Junction neighbourhood, which offers a cafe for parents and a play area for kids within a walnut-panelled interior.

The Willow Play Cafe occupies a former dive bar and caters to the growing number of young families in the area.

The space is designed to offer adults a space to unwind and relax, while their children can play and interact within eyesight, using specially designed toys and equipment.

"So many of us grew up lingering in cafes, watching the world go by, dreaming and daydreaming," said Denizens of Design principal Dyonne Fashina. "We wanted to create a place where parents could reclaim that ritual, but now with their children beside them. The design had to feel familiar and grown up, yet quietly magical."

Instead of leaning into the typically industrial, primary-hued aesthetic of indoor play areas, the team envisioned the cafe space first.

Walls and ceilings are wrapped in walnut panels, creating a more mature backdrop for the whimsical, colourful elements to be layered over.

The service area at the front of the cafe, featuring a checkerboard linoleum floor, allows customers to order their drinks from a wavy fronted counter.

Meanwhile, their kids can remove their shoes on low benches and store them in designated cubby holes underneath.

An arched portal with a keyhole-shaped cutout leads through to the compact seating area, where a floral-patterned bench runs below a red-trimmed scalloped backrest.

Small circular cafe tables and vintage bentwood chairs run alongside the banquette, facing the play zone where colourful, interactive elements emerge from the millwork.

"As a parent myself, it was important that seating be integrated directly into the play area," said DS Studio principal Dina Sarhane. "Parents should feel close to their children, not separated from them. Comfort and proximity are part of the experience."

A willow tree provided the concept for the play area, which includes two-tone green foam steps up to a raised mezzanine hideout and a red slide back down.

Read:Woven motifs fill Toronto cafe Pantry by Denizens of Design

An interactive wall with illuminated pegs and another pegboard of colourful cogs are also provided to keep kids entertained.

"We imagined the space as if it were part of a story, where things are not quite what they seem," said Fashina. "Like in Alice in Wonderland, the environment itself is alive. A cafe becomes a forest. A wall becomes a game. Play is not added on. It is embedded into the architecture."

Arched niches lead to further spaces for workshops or parties, where the walnut surfaces are paired with yellow bead details, vintage lighting and a floral ceiling installation.

"We wanted everything to feel like it belongs," Fashina said. "Nothing is decorative for its own sake. The cafe and the play world are one. Every element serves both imagination and use."

Denizens of Design's previous projects in Toronto include a fast-casual eatery featuring a basketweave ceiling and a tartan-influenced mosaic floor.

Other cafes with play equipment similarly integrated into the design include a space in Dalian, China, that was based around a drawing of an imaginary fairyland.

The photography is by Scott Norsworthy.

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