For Jacobs designer Rafael Cordero, the challenge to design a playhouse for Dallas CASA’s Parade of Playhouses took on a special meaning this year.

The Richardson resident designed a house to honor his late father, Jose Ruben, who passed away seven months ago. “My father was a typhoon of energy his entire life, so I designed a typhoon for him,” Cordero said.

Long inspired by Japanese design, Cordero’s playhouse is called “Taifu,” for the Japanese word for typhoon. It features 80 individual slats of wood, one for each year of his father’s life. The wood slats climb in a cylindrical pattern, allowing children to climb both inside and to the top of the house. The house is open and includes a telescope for stargazing on the upper terrace. There’s a small, Asian-style bell to ring at the top, as well as handles to help children climb the spiral walls. The house is designed to interact with shadows and was carefully positioned in NorthPark to showcase its interaction with natural light.

While each playhouse must fit within specific dimensid rules, Cordero said he found the limitations fun.

“The more limits you have, the more creative you can be,” he said. “It is a fun challenge.”

This was Jacobs’ second year to design a house for the event. The downtown Dallas firm specializes in commercial and industrial design. Archer Western Herzog built the Taifu playhouse.

Dallas CASA’s Parade of Playhouses runs June 13 to 29 at NorthPark Center and features custom-designed and built children’s playhouses available to win by raffle. Dallas CASA’s signature event, Parade of Playhouses, spreads awareness about child abuse and neglect and also serves as an essential volunteer recruitment tool for the agency.

To learn more about volunteering or to purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win a playhouse, please visit dallascasa.org.