Ten playful interiors with slides at their centres
For our latest lookbook we've gathered ten projects, from family homes to toy company offices, that feature slides at the heart of their interiors.
While slides might mostly be associated with public spaces such as playgrounds, these projects show how they can be a fun addition – and provide an immediate talking point – to both offices and private homes.
This is the latest roundup in our Dezeen Lookbooks series that provides visual inspiration for designers and design enthusiasts. Previous lookbooks include marble bathrooms, stylish plywood interiors and interiors with window seats.
GG Apartmeny, Ukraine, by KI Design Studio
The undulating slide that connects the two floors in this Ukrainian apartment was added to make being at home more fun.
The slide, which functions as an alternative to the existing staircase, descends from the top storey through the kitchen and into the living room below.
Find out more about GG Apartment ›
MR Design Office, Japan, by Schemata Architects
Japanese studio Schemata Architects hid a slide behind a mirrored wall in this office in Tokyo, creating a design detail that is sure to surprise visitors, as only the slide's endpoint is visible.
To use the slide, office workers climb a ladder up to the top of a bathroom and storage area, from where they can enter the hidden tunnel.
Find out more about MD Design Office ›
Townhouse B14, Germany, by XTH-Berlin
A more discrete version of the concept can be seen in this townhouse in Berlin, which features sloping pinewood floors that function as slides.
These connect the home's concrete-walled sleeping areas with a platform that houses a piano.
Find out more about Townhouse B14 ›
Walker House, Canada, by Reflect Architecture
Walker House in Canada features a pale pastel-blue slide at its centre, which connects the basement level and the ground floor.
Reflect Architecture designed the slide to animate the lower level so that it did "not feel like a basement" and to help bring in natural light via the large opening that it required.
Find out more about Walker House ›
Ekimetrics Office, France, by Estelle Vincent
A trio of boxy timber meeting spaces were inserted into this Parisian office block by architect Estelle Vincent, who added a light blue slide to one of them.
The slide leads from an upper-level crow's nest, which has a small meeting area, down to the main desks.
Find out more about Ekimetrics Office ›
Narrow MaHouse, France, by The Very Many
The children in this home in Strasbourg, France, can take advantage of the narrow built-in slide that sits at the side of the staircase that connects the house's ground and first floors.
"A set of stairs engaged as a slide is an example of informal follows function," said architects The Very Many.
"The extra length of steps, the degrees of each tilt, the obliques in plan and elevation, act as small anomalies to introduce the experiential to one's daily life."
Find out more about Narrow MaHouse ›
Family Playground, Taiwan, by HAO Design
This family home in Taiwan features a dedicated play area in its kitchen, so that kids can hang out with their parents while they are cooking.
As part of the design of the area, architects HAO Design designed a slide that can be accessed by a set of stairs. These also double up as a bookcase and feature a cosy cushioned reading nook.
Find out more about Family Playground ›
Panorama House, South Korean, by Moon Hoon
Seoul studio Moon Hoon designed a wooden slide slotted into a combined staircase and bookshelf for Panorama House, a three-storey home for a family with four children.
The slide allows both kids and grownups to quickly move from the living area down to the downstairs study area and library.
Find out more about Panorama House ›
Skyhouse, USA, by David Hotson and Ghislaine Vinas
Inside this penthouse apartment in New York, a tubular steel slide plummets through four storeys. Starting in an attic space at the top of the apartment, it comes to a brief stop on the following floor.
Here, residents can either get off or get back inside to slide down three more floors.
Find out more about Skyhouse ›
Lego PMD, Denmark, by Rosan Bosch and Rune Fjord
Danish toy brand Lego has added a fitting design to its open-plan Billund office: a whimsical metal slide.
Workers at the company can use it to quickly get down from a central walkway that connects the upper levels of the open-plan workspace.
Find out more about Lego PMD ›
This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing window seats, plywood interiors and marble bathrooms.