Bring play back into landscapes!

When I think about the way I have I have been designing my landscapes and masterplans in the past, I’ve wanted sophisticated plans, places that work for adults, sure having natural play features to benefit children and their development of motor skills, but that’s as far as I would take designing play. 

I’m in the middle of a project at the moment, designing Castlemeads and some of the projects that I have viewed for inspiration have really sparked creativity to bring play back into these landscapes. 

This first image got me thinking about the importance of the features that we place into our parks. I imagine this to be a wall or feature that’s then mosaiced with smooth marble pieces. Before it would have been bland, something nobody would have taken a second look at, but now is attraction, and visually fascinating too. And not just for children, it’s a feature that whoever can run their fingers along and get instant satisfaction, and connection with the landscape that surrounds them. That’s something that I think is really vital to a good design, having the landscape connect to people through things as simple as a textured wall. 

An exiting bench, its in what seems to be a children’s play area, but something like that could so easily be placed into the public realm. It would be odd but people would be fascinated, and its that emotion that should be captured, interest and curiosity, to explore, feel and touch. In Castlemeads I am designing a bench, the travels throughout the site, wrapping and winding around things. First it will start as a pattern on the floor, meandering  through pavers, then into a bench combined with a play feature that has places to sit, lie, climb and eat food on. Then it will climb into a floodable zone as an artistic feature, still people can climb and sit, but its more informal, some parts will be 3 meters tall, in hope to stick out of the water when flooded. 

Sun light and shadows, something that I often miss, but is such  a beautiful way to express play. This bridge is truly stunning, with the coloured filters on the panels just add that depth of curiosity and a whimsical feel to what would just be a plain and quite dreary place. I think even shadows casted in black and white give such a relaxing and inviting feel to a place. 

These are so cool, I just want to walk up to them, investigate what they are, how they feel, it really does a good job that leads you through the landscape by creating curiosity. Its not something you see every day, so acts as an attraction, a landmark in a way, and could be included in part of a way finding scheme across the city. They are also practical, as bollards to split traffic and pedestrians for safety. They feel warm and joyful, and its an example of how to bring play back into landscapes successfully, for both children and adults.