Image Credit : Jason Doyle - Studio Commercial
0414 499 558
www.studiocommercial.com
Project Overview
The Urban Jungle Playspace at Broadway is a bespoke Children's Playground for 0-5 year olds. The playground combines the philosophy of play as a safe way to challenge the child's sensory, imaginative & physical experiences with providing an opportunity for transformative learning.
Children have a sensory need to taste danger & excitement. This doesn't mean encouraging dangerous play, moreso to encourage the feeling that they are taking a risk. Now, more than ever, Children need to learn to negotiate risk which teaches them how to arrive at sound decisions. The Urban Jungle playground, at its core, allows for safe interaction & play whilst engaging in the conceptual story created around the Urban Heart.
The Urban Heart is a journey through:
Home - to honour our connection to the home & "village" we live in
Heart - a place to feel nurtured & supported in our uniqueness - a reminder to connect to our emotions, our values & the heart space - all essential for responding beyond just the thinking mind
Adventure - experiencing new terrain, the challenges of adventure & learning to find balance in your life.
Future - by using the foundation of home & heart we have the confidence & ability to face life's challenges & evolve in our future dreams.
Through these concepts, we created a journey through the playspace where children can challenge & test themselves, encouraging them to try new things to discover what they can achieve.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Kate Mackarell - Three Fishes Interior Design
Winnie Chong - Three Fishes Interior Design
Graphic Design / Conceptual overlay
Jacquelin Laurenson - Brand Oasis -
www.brandoasis.com.au
Construction -
Nicom Interiors - Jeff Giorgiutti
0432 342 798
www.nicominteriors.com.au
Park Equip Pty Ltd
Geoff Harris
www.parkequip.com.au
Project Brief
Our clients wanted a unique playground to create a point of difference for the centre that generates a destination for Families that cannot be replicated in the home environment. Utilising an unused space within the shopping centre, we had the opportunity to create a two tiered experience that maximised height & playability. There is no technology or screens & it tells a story through the Urban Heart Concept, creating a journey through Home, Heart, Adventure & Future dreams whilst still connecting back to the urban environment of the demographic of the shopping centre.
Targeted towards the 0-5 year old age bracket, it has a variety of activities to keep the children engaged & coming back for more.
We amalgamated our research on positive psychology in order to challenge the children & set the foundation to enable them to develop their own adventure through the Urban Jungle. The playground has 9 different elements consisting of a Rock climbing ramp, Cubby House & Fireman's Pole, Balance beam rope course, faceted reflective "funny" mirror wall
with light, mini tramps, rope climb, a slide & purpose designed sensory wall for babies including memory game. The ceiling has wire sculpted clouds to add to the wonderland of "props" to engage in imaginative play. All play elements are either purpose designed or customised to ensure the result is distinctive that creates a point of difference that is a destination for
families.
Project Innovation/Need
A playground needs to take a child on a journey. Being a two tiered playspace, we had the opportunity to utilise heights to create dynamic focal points that transfers the child between levels, providing challenges that encourages imagination & creativity. This opportunity to maximise vertical heights is unusual in a shopping centres & therefore we could use the three dimensional space to maximise impact & playability.
Our approach considers positive psychology & play to address the changing demands & expectations of what a playground is & should be. Play that "challenges" a child & encourages problem solving & risk negotiation is becoming more restricted due to the evolving guidelines around safety.
Our design outcome considered the safety requirements necessary for a playground whilst designing an environment that encourages children's independence & sense of discovery through obstacles & risk assessment.
It offers different play elements to suit the natural dynamics of the child, from quieter, sensory reflective play to to more adventurous & challenging
rope climbs, slides & cubby houses.
Our graphic overlay incorporates a surreal & abstract use of colour that is representative of nature to create a vibrant space that comes alive to ensure a holistic solution that encourage a child's imagination to soar. The walls have a dynamic urban jungle graphic that includes small surprise & delight elements such as counting games & puzzles to ensure each visit brings something new to the experience.
Design Challenge
The challenge when designing a playground is the amalgamation of all safety requirements required whilst thinking laterally to deliver a playground that is bespoke with a unique point of difference that becomes a destination for families.
Playgrounds within shopping centres must also consider restrictions relating to space & height. This results in a need to think differently about how to maximise playability & create challenges for the child whilst managing safety standards such as fall zones (ie clearances between equipment & circulation paths).
The methodology of Three Fishes is to incorporate positive psychology research within our conceptual designs to further drive the design outcome & create something truly bespoke but with meaning & purpose. This results in working with existing play equipment components to ensure standards are met & modifying them to provide a bespoke nature to the outcome. This does not always provide the outcome we desire & therefore in this instance, in addition to the "off the shelf" components used, we developed our own components to ensure that we could achieve our vision of providing play that was both challenging & sensory in its outcome.
As an example, a memory wall game with sensory textual panels was designed for the younger children as well as our "Heart" cubby which is the centrepiece of the playground. All these had to be reviewed & developed to ensure compliance with all child safety standards.
Sustainability
Due to the nature of playgrounds, materials that comply with the safety guidelines as well as are extremely durable must be considered.
Where practicable, all materials are selected with a consideration to sustainability. Materials such as the floor of the playground is constructed from softfall which has a recycled rubber underlay. All adhesives & sealants have been considered to avoid chemicals such as Formaldehyde, HFRs & PVC.
Where possible, we also sourced local materials & equipment with the intent of keeping the supply chain local & Australian made.
As a whole, playgrounds offer a structure for children to develop & socialise with an array of children from other backgrounds, enabling opportunities for promoting equality in play. Our approach incorporating positive psychology & transformative learning means we create environments that change the way the world is seen, expanding views & beliefs, values & actions. Our playgrounds offer an environment that is free to use & encourages early childhood development through sensory, physical & mental experiences.
Interior Design - Public or Institutional
This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes and aesthetic presentation. Consideration also given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.
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