A circus-themed children's entertainment centre spread across four levels in Ankara. Pupilla Circus was conceived around a single story that runs from the illuminated sign on its façade to the event room in the basement: a show the child steps into the moment they walk through the door. On this project, Kaya + Partners designed the architectural shell and the interior not as two separate commissions, but as two layers of the same narrative.
Façade — A Show Poster Read from the Street
The corner of the building is rounded with a red-and-white striped circus tent. The contrast established between the bulb-lit PUPILLA CIRCUS lettering, the classical columns and the brick texture sets the building apart from the surrounding commercial façades at first glance. Chequered floor tiling and a star-strewn red carpet draw an invitation line that runs from the pavement to the door.
Nutcracker figures, a pumpkin carriage and an elephant sculpture turn the façade from a shopfront into a photo stop. In themed space design, the façade is the first marketing tool: here, the architecture is the signage itself.
Entrance — Passing Through a Lit Arch
At the entrance, visitors are met by red arches ringed with bulbs and a glossy floor with a radial pattern. The ceiling becomes a starry night sky drifting with hot-air balloons; the scale is deliberately composed from a child's point of view.
A candy wall and colourful product shelving also make the entrance a retail axis. The visit begins not at a till, but by passing through a stage curtain.
Ground Floor Play Area — The Main Stage Beneath the Tent
At the centre rises a red circus tent, its ribs drawn in light bulbs. Around it, spiral slides, a ball pit, climbing towers and polka-dot floor patterns form a multi-layered children's play area where a child can set their own route.
The deliberate collision of yellow, turquoise and red separates the zones without naming them; the child knows where to go without reading a single wayfinding sign. The yellow kiosk at the end of the area keeps the transition between play and snack short.
Café — The Parent's Place at the Edge of the Stage
The café is resolved in a position removed from the noise of the play area while preserving the sightline into it. The black-and-white chequered floor, tasselled red pendants and striped columns translate the energy of the children's space into a language at adult scale. In children's café design, the real issue is not only seating the parent, but letting them see their child from where they sit.
- The circus language carried through in chequered flooring and striped columns
- Tasselled red pendant lighting and spherical striped fixtures
- Chairs upholstered in patterned textiles, red banquette seating groups
- A birthday corner framed by a balloon arch and a bulb-lit portal
- A striped stage with red curtains — an area for mini shows and celebrations
First Floor — A Second Play Level Separated by Age
The upper floor is conceived as a controlled play area for the younger age group. Red-and-white striped walls, oval windows with green frames and polka-dot flooring repeat the intensity of the floor below at a calmed rhythm.
- Soft play and climbing structure on a yellow frame
- Trampoline area and a colourful climbing wall
- A workshop corner with a giraffe and tropical plant themed mural
- A yellow worktable ringed by green stools, with toy shelving
Basement Event Room — The Birthday and Workshop Stage
The lowest level is transformed into a fully fledged event room with an orange-and-green radial tent ceiling and a blue velvet stage curtain. Bulb-lit arches divide the space into three stages: the celebration table, the workshop bench and the performance area.
Blackboard surfaces turn the wall into a material the child can use, while the kitchen unit at the rear handles cake and workshop service without anyone leaving the room. The birthday party is not a function added to the space later on — it is the composition itself.
Colour, Material and Safety — The Technical Counterpart of the Theme
Throughout the project, the red-and-white stripe, the chequered floor and the bulb-lit frame recur as three constant motifs, while the colour palette warms as the floors change. Soft-padded corners, rounded forms and non-slip surfaces take the theme beyond an aesthetic preference and tie it to a safety strategy at child scale.
Attic Office — Backstage
The management office in the attic is the only calm language in the entire building: a grey-beige palette, linear lighting and glazed surfaces opening onto the terrace. This floor, where the business operates behind the show, was deliberately stripped of the theme.
Themed Architecture — Experience Design at Child Scale
Pupilla Circus represents an understanding of theme built through architecture rather than décor. When façade, circulation, scale, colour and light all serve the same story, the space ceases to be a play area and becomes an experience that is remembered — and that is precisely Kaya + Partners' approach to entertainment centre architecture.
