The 32,300-square-foot indoor playground can accommodate up to 600 visitors at a time to participate in more than 30 activities.
In-person experiences are trending—and not just for work. In Shanghai, XBox Family Sports Center offers a sleek outlet for entertainment of the old-fashioned, IRL nature. The roughly 32,000-square-foot, three-story indoor playground, by local firm Fun Connection for Hangzhou Ningnuo Investment Management Company, houses more than 30 interactive games to get the adrenaline pumping in up to 600 visitors at a time. And it does so in style.
Completed in May, XBox merges recreation with a minimalist, futuristic aesthetic that targets “Gen Z’s craving for novel and unique experiences,” begins Fun Connection chief designer Yaotian Zhang. The facility’s interwoven array of activities and equipment are both fun and challenging, while imbuing “the joy and sense of accomplishment that sports bring,” continues Zhang, who, in addition to design, has a background in children’s psychology, which he has put to use in such projects as the Most Cured Home in the World, a kids healthcare clinic in Chongqing, its pale blues, sunrise oranges, and cheery terrazzo earning an Interior Design Best of Year Award in 2021. For XBox, clearly different in purpose but similar in demographic, he and his team chose an industrial look “with its exposed steel frames, metal elements, and clean lines to convey a sense of avant-garde and modernity.”
Among the activity areas at XBox Family Sports Center in Shanghai by Fun Connection is the trampoline zone, which visitors can use to slam dunk basketballs, backdropped by Chinese plum piles and a climbing wall.
Located in Shanghai Zhonggeng Wander City Mall, the futuristic infrastructure is teased at the storefront, where a sprawling semicircular reception desk backed by a shiny wall of cushiony silver pillows draws the attention of unexpecting shoppers while supporting an expeditious check-in for young thrill-seekers. After storing their shoes in the adjacent locker room, XBox guests can then quickly roll through the turnstiles into the awaiting double-height playground.
There, they’ll have no shortage of options or directions to pursue. Trampolines, zip lines, foam pits, and obstacle courses rising 33 feet fill the perimeter across the three levels. Anchoring the flurry of play zones in the central atrium is the X. Slide, a 36-foot-tall machinelike amalgamation of eight stainless-steel slides intended to emulate factory pipelines. Users can embark down one of four spiral slides offering a 66-foot-long journey, a steep and straight tunnel slide, or one of three wave slides before their orderly deposition at the X. Slide base. Transparent glass toppers on the spiral and tunnel slides give them panoramic views during their descent.
The centerpiece of the project is the custom 36-foot-tall X. Slide, which combines eight slides in varying configurations, the predominant stainless steel and glass contributing to the space’s overall industrial, futuristic aesthetic.
Zhang says the slide was his favorite project element to conceive because it reflects the “futuristic industrial aesthetic” the firm desired, “but also integrates the functional aspects of sports,” he says. “This area is both a concentrated expression of the concept and the soul of the entire center. Therefore, it leaves a deep impression on people both visually and functionally.”
Other highlights include a high-altitude adventure challenge, where up to 50 players can help each other navigate obstacles of varying difficulty, including a 33-foot-high, 118-foot-long zip line. Below, 12 traditional Chinese plum piles invite players to bound from top to top, to a maximum height exceeding 13 feet. “They evoke nostalgic memories of the simple joy of playing Super Mario on early gaming consoles,” says Zhang, who’s an avid gamer himself.
Wearing harnesses and helmuts, guests large and small traverse the obstacle course, which rises 33 feet.
XBox caters to anyone seeking a personal or group experience. The high-altitude adventure, competitive climbing area, slides, and trampoline areas “are perfect for extroverts to engage with others, enjoy social interactions, and partake in teamwork.” Introverts can partake in small-group or individual activities, such as the stepping machine or rope course, or people-watch from transparent tunnels and integrated observation platforms in the adventure castle.
Though designing the project might literally seem like all fun and games, Zhang says his firm also addressed the technical requirements of a multifunctional, multilevel sports center, such as ensuring the safety of all structural and play elements. Fun Connection collaborated with Chinese playground equipment designer and manufacturer Qileer to select soft and impact-friendly contact surfaces, situate hard props and infrastructure to noncontact areas, and distinguish collision surfaces from bearing surfaces with soft padding.
Contact surfaces are soft, like the PVC flooring in this suspended walkway with a low-flying zipline, to help ensure safety.
And while Zhang identifies Gen Z as a target demographic, he says the project “considers the needs of different age groups, ensuring that everyone, from children to adults, can find suitable activities.” Restaurants, private party rooms, and lounge areas equipped with seating and device chargers are situated behind the X. Slide, away from the noise and commotion of the play zones. The combination of play, recharging, and gathering areas “ensures that every family member can find enjoyment, increasing the opportunities for shared activities,” Zhang notes.
Not coincidentally, Fun Connection’s choice of an industrial aesthetic for XBox is also ideal for high-traffic, active spaces. For example, the prevailing finishes of concrete and metal are durable and easy to clean and maintain. Bare pipes and exposed metal finishes also maximize clearances and space utilization.
The 32,300-square-foot indoor playground can accommodate up to 600 visitors at a time to participate in more than 30 activities.
The predominant colors—silver, blue, orange, yellow—also support XBox’s futuristic theme. The metallic hues are reminiscent of machinery, technical instruments, spacecraft, and spacesuits. Blue symbolizes the infinite, profound nature of the Earth’s sky and the universe, and the planet as seen from space. Finally, the oranges and yellows suggest warmth, vitality, the energy of the sun, and the “dynamism and innovation inherent in space exploration,” Zhang says.
With its profusion of activities and zones, XBox Sports Center makes it easy for people of all ages to achieve something that has become increasingly difficult: put down their devices, leave the comfort of home, and engage in active play and conversations firsthand.
Get Active At XBox Family Sports Center
Since the center is located inside Shanghai Zhonggeng Wander City Mall, neon signage and a wide reception desk accented by a quilted wall of cushions draw attention to it and introduce its color and material palette.
The adventure castle intermixes climbing, crawling, observation, and a dartboard.
Part of the color palette represents dynamism and the energy of the sun.
The zipline is 13 feet high and 118 long.
Seating outside the trampoline zone offers respite for players and family members.
LED strips in another anchor color, this one symbolizing the sky and universe, surround a stepping machine for individual or group play.
Custom graphics enliven the locker room.
The trampoline zone also features a bridge over a foam pit. PROJECT TEAM
FUN CONNECTION: QIAN ZHU; YINGFEI WANG; ZIHAN QIN; KEYI WANG. QILEER: PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER.