House of Dreamers is a similar idea to a series of all-ages immersive experiences that flourished around 2024: think the Balloon Museum, think Dopamine Land, think Bubble Planet (which is still going). As a veteran of these sorts of things (my kids go nuts for them), there are very definitely some familiar elements to House of Dreamers: the gigantic ballpit is a classic, as is the pretend train journey where you sit in a carriage and video screens give the illusion of movement.
Originating in Italy (it’s the creation of designer sisters Elena and Giulia Sella), what sets HoD apart from the pack is the relentless barrage of aspirational slogans and cookie-cutter ‘you got this!’ positivity. Somewhat ambiguously described as being ‘the first immersive exhibition dedicated to dreamers’, the show occupies a vague middle ground between actually being dreamlike and celebrating hopes and dreams via the medium of messages like ‘enjoy today’ or ‘never give up’.
I think maybe when I was younger and didn’t have kids, and my cynicism outweighed my pragmatism, the whole thing would have made me want to scream, especially when my journey ended with an uplifting quote from JK Rowling, personalised just for me (we are given individual wristbands with our names electronically imprinted on them – my kids both lost theirs in the ballpit). But now, I just say live, laugh, love.
The show is relentlessly photo friendly
House of Dreamers is perfectly good fun so long as you are aware of what you're getting yourself into and aren’t imagining it’s going to be an hour of thought-provoking modern art. The show is relentlessly photo friendly, which I’m sorry to say counts for a lot in 2026 – I took a lot of pictures, not all of them ironically. While the mileage of the 16 rooms varies considerably, my kids had an absolute ball in, well, the giant pink ballpit, which was accessed by slide. They also very much enjoyed the room full of pink punchbags, and also the one where you threw giant bouncy balls into glowing basketball hoops that had words like ‘love’ or ‘create’ written next to them in glowing letters. Our family favourite was the room where you could generate a janky AI image of yourself in which you were doing the job of your dreams: I’m not sure if it’s meant to be funny, but I’m afraid it is very funny (especially giventhat one of the potential careers is ‘beekeeper’).
It’s billed as an all-ages experience, and there were plenty of adults-only groups in attendance when we went. If anything, I wonder if the marketing has undersold it as a thing for kids. The more playful bits like the boxing and the basketball seemed to have greater appeal to youngsters, while adult groups mostly took a snap and moved on. But ultimately, if you’ve seen the pictures and think ‘that looks cool’, House of Dreamers should live up to your hopes and, indeed, dreams.
