Inspired by the dolls’ house that Edwin Lutyens designed for The British Empire Exhibition in 1922, twenty British architectural practices were invited to design a contemporary doll’s house in aid of the disabled children’s charity KIDS. The houses sit on a 750mm square plinth and are planned to be auctioned.

Zaha  Hadid Architects were proud to join Cathedral Group and other partners, including David Adjaye, RAAD Studio and others, to create their own house proposal. The design they presented an interpretation of its own Ideal House pavilion from 2007. The design is a puzzle where interlocking elements, reminiscent of rooms, are stacked together to create a singular, unified house. The void which travels through the assembled house is continuous and creates a common space shared by every element and defines circulation from one room to the other.

The Doll’s House offers various possibilities to play and experiment and it acts like a puzzle – it can be assembled as a compact box. Children can experiment with endless combinations in order to create a variety of unique compositions. Elements can be rotated so they match their shapes embedded within the Doll’s House garden.

The design is didactic; it encourages continuous re-evaluation of composition and form. The number of combinations is enormous; the pieces can be assembled and dismantled in many combinations, to be reassessed with each new combination –   the voids therefore get to be interpreted as new and unique rooms or courtyards for dolls to inhabit.