Cinemaxx Junior Clinches Accolade at FX International Design Awards

Cinemaxx Junior, a colourful, kids-friendly integrated cinema with playground in Indonesia, has been named ”Best Leisure or Entertainment Venue” at FX International Design Awards 2016 in London. For its groundbreaking design concept, Cinemaxx Junior beat out 9 shortlisted entrants to emerge the winner in the category.

On the accolade, DP Design’s director Mike Lim said, “We are humbled by this award and kind acknowledgement by a leading design magazine in the UK and fellow interior design fraternity members on this experimental project. We are fortunate to have worked with an enlightened client, on pioneering this first-of-its-kind cinema and social space for families in Asia, fully integrating the activities of movie-watching and playing in a single destination to deliver full entertainment for children and their parents. In today’s urban environment, especially in Asia where many families are dual-income, bonding time with their children is a precious commodity. The FX International Design Award thus serves as a motivation for Singapore designers to advance world-class design ideas that address changing lifestyle needs in the city and redefine norms and expectations.”

The successful concept of Cinemaxx Junior lies in its distinct departure from the traditional movie-going experience. Cinemaxx Junior redefines and expands on the movie experience by offering patrons the freedom to move around at will – children are not confined to assigned seats, but are instead encouraged to explore the play and screening areas while interacting with other children in a fun and safe environment. With the play element fully integrated with the movie experience, parents and guardians no longer have to worry that their child would disturb other visitors, which exponentially increases their enjoyment of the space.

A veritable garden of colour and delight, extensive thought was put into the selection and design of the diverse range of play equipment to achieve a good balance of high physicality and low-impact activities for children to choose from. Multiple points of entry into the screening area from the play area have been designed for children – climbing up the yellow ‘Wall-o-lla’ to reach the tube slide lets children slide into a colourful ball pit right below the movie screen. Accommodating 106 people at full capacity, the seating configuration was specially designed to appeal to a child’s sensibilities, with four types of seats upholstered in stain-resistant vinyl fabrics in bright and vibrant colours. The seating design encourages informality, with bean bags, loungers, sofa beds and standard cinema seats.

The progressive approach to play and emphasis on tactility and social interaction fully immerse children in the space while the non-directional circulation and programmatic paths encourage freedom of expression and independent thought, leading to new experiences.

The awards ceremony was held at The Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London on November 30, 2016.

Project Team: Mike Lim, Leong Wei Lin, Dessy Budhianto, Florian Lei Bautista, Faye Lee, Calliope Lee, Riri Damayanti, Jeffrey Loh & Truong Tuan Phuong