Giving Discarded Toys a Second Life
Inspired by the emotional attachment people form with childhood toys, The Toy Storey Residence in Kerala reimagines waste as a valuable architectural resource. Designed by Wallmakers, the project incorporates more than 6,200 discarded plastic toys into its construction, creating a unique home that addresses both environmental concerns and collective memory.
Located in Vadakara, a municipality known for its high toy consumption, the residence responds directly to the growing challenge of plastic waste. Rather than allowing these objects to end up in landfills or oceans, the project gives them a renewed purpose while encouraging local children to revisit and rediscover toys that may once have belonged to them. The result is a building that functions as both a home and a repository of community stories.
A Latticed Façade Inspired by Traditional Jaali Screens
Designed around a circular footprint, the residence embraces openness and community interaction through a generous cantilevered veranda that wraps around the building. Constructed using compressed stabilized earth blocks made from excavated on-site soil, the structure features a lattice-like system of corbels from which colorful recycled toys emerge.
Drawing inspiration from the traditional Indian jaali screen, the building envelope serves multiple purposes beyond its sculptural appearance. The porous façade encourages natural ventilation, filters daylight, and provides shade throughout the day while reducing heat gain. By combining recycled toys with vernacular design principles, The Toy Storey Residence creates an architectural language that is environmentally responsible, culturally rooted, and visually unforgettable.
The house is divided by a narrow courtyard bisecting the circular floorplan into a large communal area and a private zone containing two bedrooms and a dining and kitchen of Toy Storey Residence in India space. While the former has been designed as a public space where neighbours are welcome to stop by, with built-in concrete benches conveying the sense of a plaza, the private quarters are enclosed with translucent Japanese-style shoji screens based on a “house within a house” concept. Plenty of natural light filters in through the ‘toy jaali’ envelope and the central courtyard. Taking advantage of the sloped terrain, the house also features a further basement level comprising a third bedroom and a library.
