The Disease Den

The ‘Disease Den’ is a soft play area produced for the Thackray Museum of Medicine, inspired by germs and co-created with a group of children through interactive workshops exploring what they imagined germs looked and felt like. Through drawing, storytelling and conversation, the children described germs as strange, playful, chaotic and larger-than-life, which became the foundation for the creative direction of the space.

The immersive experience is designed to make children feel as though they are floating amongst human-sized germs, translating their ideas into a tactile, sensory environment. The installation includes giant textured handmade germ beanbags, ambient lighting, a 10 metre-long ceiling-mounted germ sculpture and a 360 wall mural.