Zooco Estudio Designs Latest Locale for Big and Tiny in Los Angeles

Big and Tiny Silverlake in Los Angeles is exactly as its name suggests—an expansive 5,027-square-foot space designed by Zooco Estudio with plenty of small alcoves, appealing to children and adults. The brand, which also has a locale in Santa Monica, enables families to socialize, work, and relax in a laid-back, quiet setting while their children play. Tasked with creating two acoustically isolated areas under one roof, each with its own open square, the design team built a multi-functional wall, dividing the building into two parts. “This wall contains acoustic isolation and is covered by mirrors in order to generate more amplitude in both spaces,” the design team notes.

Each side of the wall features its own unique set of “cubes.” For example, the children’s area on one side features two central cubes, the Tree House and Ball Pit, while the adult zone on the other has a Bike Cube and Silence Cube—communal space between the two is intended for children’s parties. The designers connected the cubes with high baseboards or curves made of wooden slats for a cohesive aesthetic. “The most interesting part of working in this space is the fact that we could work with a [vast] architectural scale, due to the height and spaciousness of the venue,” says Jorge Alonso, an architect on the project. Building structure within the space enabled the team to, in a sense, “form a little city,” he adds.