Room for Max is an inclusive sensory space built for one autistic boy in a home in Singapore, which has become an informal community center for neurodivergent children. It is a small but endlessly reconfigurable space, built according to extensive research into the needs and comforts of neurodivergent children. Rather than conform to the typical, clinical norms of sensory spaces, this new typology adopts a language of childhood fantasy; it is a playful and dream-like space that its young users can use to build their agency and a world of their own design. While tiny, the room can be recreated in infinite variations using a system of interlocking soft floor modules, by introducing fanciful zoomorphic play-forms, or by entirely changing the colour tone of the room.

Photography: Ong Chan Hao