Saturday, November 15, 2008

Cottage Spotlight: Plato's Playground

For further info, see our review of the event or visit the Cottages for Kids website.

We've already given you an overview of one of the most exciting events this year, Cottages for Kids. The proceeds from this event will benefit CVHN, one of our favorite charities which provides medical, dental and mental health care for local kids.

We'll focus in the next couple of weeks on particular cottages. The first is Plato's Playground and we're proud to say it was designed by our friend, Wade Squiers of studio i Architecture. "I purposely avoided overt themes and instead focused on creating a cottage that would let the kids come up with their own stories, a place that was sort of a blank canvas for them to inspire, create and imagine," said Wade. To symbolize this mission, Squiers designed his 2008 cottage entry based on two simple basic shapes that children recognize and relate to, the square and the circle. Plato’s Playground is Squiers' second Cottages for Kids entry. In 2007, he designed the Fibonacci House.

Brad Beauchamp, owner of Sunset Builders, oversaw the building of Plato's Playground. Brad noted that "the challenges in building Plato’s Playground were few. The simple design made it a builders dream." Brad says he and wife Krystal are very excited to be a part of Cottages 2008 and "have been supporters of Children’s Volunteer Health Network since its inception. It is a cause we truly believe in." This is the first year Sunset Builders has participated in this event, and Brad along with partner Redus Coggin are excited about the opportunities that Cottages 2008 provides.

Plato’s Playground was constructed from recycled lumber with all natural skylighting and ventilation. As an added bonus, Squiers and Beauchamp invited local kids to paint designs on the cottage before the event officially began. Wade's wife Krista added her gorgeous angels to the ceiling as a finishing touch. We hope you'll go check out Plato's Playground and the other amazing cottages soon!