From giant ball pools and colourful installations to rooms built around imagination and play, House of Dreamers is one of London’s newest immersive attractions. But during a Bank Holiday visit, Pentacept Reporters discovered that the experience raises an interesting question: when did adults stop playing?
There is something unusual about watching grown adults disappear into a giant pink ball pool.
Some laugh.
Some immediately reach for their phones.
Others simply allow themselves to enjoy the moment.
For a short while, the emails, bills, deadlines, commutes and responsibilities of everyday life seem very far away.
During the recent Bank Holiday, a Pentacept Reporters correspondent visited House of Dreamers London, one of the capital’s newest immersive attractions.
The expectation was relatively simple: colourful rooms, good photographs and perhaps another attraction designed primarily for the social media generation.
But the visit prompted a more interesting question.
When did adults stop playing?
And why are experiences built around imagination, nostalgia and childlike wonder increasingly attracting grown-ups?
A New Immersive Experience in London
House of Dreamers arrived in London this summer at Immerse LDN, on the ExCeL Waterfront in London’s Royal Docks.
The London experience features a collection of immersive installations created by Italian designers and sisters Elena and Giulia Sella.
Visitors move through a series of colourful spaces incorporating fantasy, technology, games and interactive experiences.
There are swings among clouds, an enchanted forest, unusual rooms, interactive games and, perhaps one of the most visually striking attractions, a giant pink ball pool.
The London experience also incorporates wearable technology through a DreamBand, which interacts with elements of the attraction to personalise parts of the visitor’s journey.
But beyond the technology and colourful surroundings, there is another layer to the experience.
Is This Really Just for Children?
At first glance, House of Dreamers could easily be mistaken for a giant playground.
Bright colours.
Ball pools.
Swings.
Games.
Fantasy environments.
Yet during the Pentacept Reporters visit, one thing became immediately noticeable.
The adults were playing too.
They were taking photographs, exploring the installations, jumping into the ball pool and participating in the experience rather than simply watching children enjoy themselves.
That observation provides perhaps the most interesting perspective on House of Dreamers.
For adults accustomed to workplaces, deadlines, commuting and responsibilities, there are relatively few environments where they are actively encouraged to behave without worrying about appearing serious.
House of Dreamers temporarily removes that expectation.
When Did Adults Stop Playing?
Children rarely need to be taught how to play.
Give a child an empty room, a few objects and enough imagination, and something will usually happen.
Adulthood works differently.
As responsibilities increase, play is gradually replaced by productivity.
There is work.
There are bills.
There are family responsibilities.
There are appointments.
There are targets.
Even leisure can become scheduled.
Perhaps this explains part of the attraction of immersive experiences.
For an hour or two, adults are given permission to participate rather than simply observe.
And that may be why a giant pink ball pool can suddenly become surprisingly appealing.
London’s Growing Appetite for Experiences
House of Dreamers also represents something bigger happening within London’s entertainment industry.
Increasingly, audiences do not simply want to watch something.
They want to experience it.
Traditional museums, cinemas, galleries and theatres now exist alongside a rapidly expanding category of immersive entertainment.
Visitors walk through installations.
They touch things.
They participate.
They take photographs.
And increasingly, they become part of the attraction itself.
House of Dreamers fits comfortably within that changing entertainment landscape.
Its location at Immerse LDN is particularly significant. The ExCeL Waterfront development has been positioned as a destination for immersive entertainment and experiences.
For attractions such as House of Dreamers, the visitor is no longer merely an audience member.
The visitor becomes part of the experience.
Then There Is the Instagram Question
It is almost impossible to visit House of Dreamers without noticing how photogenic it is.
Almost every room appears capable of becoming an Instagram photograph, TikTok video or family memory.
The colours are striking.
The lighting is deliberate.
The installations invite photography.
One of the rooms visited by Pentacept Reporters featured a huge pink ball pool beneath an illuminated message:
“All We Have Is Now.”
It creates an interesting contradiction.
In an attraction encouraging visitors to enjoy the present moment, many people will inevitably experience that moment through their phone cameras.
That raises another question about modern entertainment:
Are we experiencing places, or are we creating content from them?
Perhaps the answer is both.
Social media is clearly part of the appeal of attractions like House of Dreamers.
But reducing the experience entirely to Instagram opportunities would miss something.
Many of the installations also carry themes around imagination, perspective, ambition, confidence and overcoming fear.
The result sits somewhere between a playground, an art installation, a motivational experience and a social media studio.
Not Everyone Will Experience It the Same Way
House of Dreamers is unlikely to appeal equally to everyone.
Someone expecting a conventional museum or traditional art exhibition may have a very different experience from a family with children.
Likewise, a couple looking for something unusual to do in London may approach it differently from a group of friends interested primarily in photographs and social media content.
That is perhaps the best way to understand the attraction.
It is an experience rather than simply an exhibition.
How much value a visitor gets from it may depend largely on whether they are prepared to participate.
If you enter expecting simply to walk around and look at things, the experience may feel limited.
If you are prepared to interact, play and temporarily suspend the seriousness of adulthood, it becomes something different.
So, Is House of Dreamers Worth Visiting?
For Pentacept Reporters, the most interesting part of the visit was not necessarily one particular installation.
It was watching adults allow themselves to play.
For a short period, people who ordinarily spend their days being employees, parents, managers, professionals and commuters were encouraged to do something considerably simpler.
Have fun.
There is perhaps some irony in adults needing to buy a ticket and enter a purpose-built attraction to rediscover something that once came naturally.
But perhaps that also explains why places such as House of Dreamers exist.
Modern cities provide plenty of places to work.
Plenty of places to shop.
Plenty of places to eat.
Plenty of places to spend money.
But considerably fewer places encourage adults simply to use their imagination.
House of Dreamers is attempting to create one.
And judging by the adults disappearing happily into a giant pink ball pool during a London Bank Holiday, there may be a bigger appetite for that than we realise.
Visitor Information
House of Dreamers London
Immerse LDN, ExCeL Waterfront
Royal Victoria Dock, London
Visitors should check the attraction’s official website for current opening dates, ticket prices, age guidance and availability before travelling.
Pentacept Reporters visited House of Dreamers independently. This article is editorial coverage and is not a paid promotion.
