Architect Gavin Elliott is beaming with pride. He’s standing in Salford Quays, exactly the kind of development area that gets people in his
industry excited.

It’s the site of one of his most iconic buildings, the sail-topped Abito apartment complex on the banks of the Ship Canal, built by the Manchester-based architects BDP that Gavin has chaired since 2008. But it’s also the location of the latest design by the company – the children’s playground that is Music Boxes, Manchester International Festival’s big free event for the under-sevens.

And he’s even smiling as we sit in the most unconventional of offices, both of us perched on small plastic stools in a shipping crate decorated in the vibrant livery of children’s TV station CBeebies. 

It’s a nice way of dispensing with the idea that being chairman of a prestigious design studio should be all about sitting in “timber-panelled rooms drinking whiskey from cut glass,” laughs the 47-year-old father-of-three.

But there’s another, far better reason for meeting in this unconventional location – Music Boxes is an event that really has to be seen from the inside to be understood. Because from the pavement, it looks like someone’s has sneaked up the Ship Canal one evening and dumped their cargo in a spare space on the bank.

In a sense, that’s exactly how Gavin wanted it to look – temporary, intriguing, but safe and hardy. And he couldn’t be happier that the hook-up with MIF has happened.

As chairman, he tabled the idea that the company get involved with MIF, who offered the company a sponsorship package. “I told them I didn’t really want to do that – I don’t mind giving you some money but, fundamentally, I want to get involved in this creatively,” says Gavin.

“That’s what we’re good at and we can add a lot more value doing that than just writing you a cheque. She looked at me slightly aghast and then started clicking through this list of things we could get involved with.

For the life of me I can’t remember what any of them were until she got to this children’s musical exhibition down at MediaCityUK based in shipping containers.
“Immediately I said yes.”

The BBC is one of the key partners in Music Boxes alongside independent creative groups like Cornershop and Oily Cart. Kids can make confetti storms, conduct virtual orchestras, relax in light-infused chambers and draw to their hearts’ content. Gavin had long aspired to do something playful with shipping containers. They were already part of the plan in order to make the event shippable overseas after MIF but beyond that the brief was open ended.

It had to be safe – for the kids and overnight from break-ins – and appeal to a broad age range, from six months to seven years old. But how it looked and how the containers were used was entirely BDP’s choice.

Many hours of planning and drawing resulted in a oval playground.

Like its neighbouring event, Crash Of The Elysium, it has a deceptive and unassuming exterior.

“I’m a big fan of American conceptual art,” says Gavin,
“people like Richard Serra, Donald Judd, and we liked the idea of producing something minimal. But straight lines would have been harsh, so we tried to develop these fluid forms.

“There’s that age old story about Christmas Day when kids open their presents and then chuck it away and start playing with the box,” Gavin laughs.

“I think this is a bit like that – the things in these boxes are absolutely amazing.”

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