Outdoor play spaces for children

Outdoor Play Spaces for Children

Play space needs to be of high quality and good design to attract children and families and become a valued part of the local environment. Poor quality, unimaginative space will not be attractive to children, will not be valued by the local community and will fall in to disuse and disrepair. Good design is a good investment. So we program this book on the design of children’s outdoor play spaces, in order to encourage the play space designers all over the world to provide our children more high-quality playing spaces.

Edited by Bruce Gillmeier

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Outdoor Play Spaces for Children Edited by Bruce Gillmeier

Understanding Play

What Is Play

Play is an amazing behaviour. Sometimes it is about ‘letting off steam’, and sometimes it can be quiet, contemplative, active and boisterous.

Children and young people should have opportunities to experience challenges and take risks while playing. Those who are disabled or have specific needs also have the same rights.

For children and young people, play is an essential element for their physical, social and cognitive development.

What will children do in their own time, for their own reasons? The answer is play. During the process of play, they can choose what they do, how to do it and who to do it with. There are many forms of play: doing nothing in particular; doing many things; being boisterous; showing off; being contemplative; being social; being challenged; overcoming difficulties.

When playing, children can explore the world and learn to be responsible for their own choices.

When playing, children can also develop a sense of well-being, heighten their emotional responses and improve their interpersonal skills. The process of play involves exploration and creativity, which helps children think in a flexible manner, develop their creative spirit, language skills and problem solving skills.

The Importance of Play

As we have discussed, play is essential to children’s physical, social and cognitive development. Among all the play spaces, outdoor play is particularly valuable. That’s because outdoor play can provide children with unique opportunities to experience the elements, and it can also bring children the sense of well-being and enjoyment. Meanwhile, access to the outdoors can also give children more space to move freely.

Research suggests that children playing outdoors and establishing relationships with other children in their community can also have a positive effect on community cohesion. The more social networks children have in a neighbourhood, the greater the confidence parents have in the safety of that area. Parents also establish their own networks through their children, meaning that play also supports community cohesion amongst adults. In Finland, over 70 per cent of parents saw their play park to be somewhere where they can get support and help with issues concerning their children. (Department for Children, Schools and Families: 2008 UK) Although play plays such an important role in children’s daily life, unfortunately today’s children generally have fewer opportunities to play outdoors than their previous generations. The gradually increased traffic levels and concerning about risk are amongst the many factors that have led to children’s having fewer opportunities to play out.

In 2007, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported that, while children’s free time has been reduced in recent decades, childhood and adolescent depression has been on the increase over the same period.

As the report noted, free, child-driven creative play ‘offers benefits that may be protective against the effects of pressure and stress’. (Ginsburg, K, The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds , Clinical Report: American Academy of Paediatrics, 2007)

Children play in many different ways according to their own interests and abilities, and enjoy different forms of play at different times and places.

Approximately 15 different play types have been identified, all of which are of importance to children’s enjoyment and day-to-day experience. (Children’s Play Council, National Playing Fields Association and PlayLink, 2000 Uk)

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We should not prevent children and young people from doing things they enjoy because of risks that can be managed. Children and young people themselves recognise that ‘you can’t make everything safe’ and that a balance is needed between risks and fun. Children recognise that knowing about risks and how to manage them is an essential part of growing up. (Department for Children, Schools and Families: 2007 UK)

Play Spaces Hazards

This section provides a broad overview of general hazards that should be avoided on playgrounds. It is intended to raise awareness of the risks posed by each of these hazards.

Diametre has increased

Crush and Shearing Points Anything that could crush or shear limbs should not be accessible to children on a playground. Crush and shear points can be caused by parts moving relative to each other or to a fixed part during a normal use cycle, such as a seesaw.

To determine if there is a possible crush or shear point, consider: ·The likelihood a child could get a body part inside the point, and

Figure 3.2. Example of a hazardous projection that increases in diametre from plane of initial surface and forms an entanglement hazard and may also be an impalement hazard.

·The closing force around the point.

Potential crush / shear hazards specific to certain pieces of equipment are identified in Chapter 4.

Entanglement and Impalement Projections on playground equipment should not be able to entangle children’s clothing nor should they be large enough to impale. To avoid this risk: ·The diametre of a projection should not increase in the direction away from the surrounding surface toward the exposed end (see Figure 3.2). ·Bolts should not expose more than two threads beyond the end of the nut (see Figure 3.3). ·All hooks, such as S-hooks and C-hooks, should be closed. A hook is considered closed if there is no gap or space greater than 0.04 inches (1 milimetre), about the thickness of a dime. ·Any connecting device containing an in-fill that completely fills the interior space preventing entry of clothing items into the interior of the device is exempt from this requirement. ·Swings and slides have additional recommendations for projections detailed in Chapter 4.

Drawstrings on the hoods of jackets, sweatshirts, and other upper body clothing can become entangled in playground equipment, and can cause death by strangulation. To avoid this risk:

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Figure 3.3. Example of a hazardous projection that extends more than 2 threads beyond the nut and forms an impalement / laceration hazard and may also be an entanglement hazard.

Warning

Children have died when drawstrings on their clothing caught on slides or other playground equipment.

Remove hood and neck drawstrings from children’s clothing before children play on a playground.

Remove scarves and mittens connected through the sleeves.

Adventure Playground in Abu Dhabi Landscape Design: LTL Architects, Free Play Location: Al Ain, Abu Dhabi Client: FIFA, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium Area: Budget: Photographer: Gabriela Maj

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This project is located at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in the city of Al Ain in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The designers have chosen a modular, customisable playground concept, which engages the senses and imagination of a child.

The concept was selected for a playground installation located just outside of the stadium.

Two design companies, LTL Architects and Free Play have developed specifications, product selection, placement, and pricing. Within just eight weeks Free Play created the final design, worked on engineering and testing, and constructed the equipment.

The play space, situated in a courtyard surrounded by retail, restaurants, and office spaces, features various play structures

that give children the opportunity to have a sensory experience like no other. People can find many interactive pieces in this playground: The maze. Children can engage with two of these structures, each comprised of cubes with round cutouts that create a labyrinth to explore on their own or with friends.

The ant farm. Organic shaped climbing tubes, which appear to float in space, allow children to climb up sheer walls into the suspended tubes and through invisible structures.

The weeping willow. The play space features two of these structures: one with steel, aluminum, and bamboo chimes, and the other, with ropes. Children can climb, swing, or move

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through the ropes while the chimes create a beautiful musical experience.

The corn field. For the stadium’s playground, 100 corn stalks stand vertically creating a cornfieldlike environment and when gently touched, respond to contact.

Along with the various installed pieces, playground-goers will also find flooring from London based company Pavegen that lights up as people step on the slabs. Since the playground is in the desert, the play area will be covered by a structure with a shade shielding adults and children from the sun.

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Jungle

Vines Exploded diagram Jungle

Weeping willow

Elevation

Rope

Jungle Details

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Maze

Box aggregation

Marble track

Box assembly

Climbing panels

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Elevation

Maze Details

Ant farm

Section view

Ant farm

Exploded diagram

Ant farm

Extruded foam

Elevation Ant Farm Details

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Corn field

Variagation

1. Solar collector

4. Naming rights

2. LED lights

5. Weather vane

3. Water feature

6. Wind catcher

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Naming rights Stalks + rubber tiles

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Stalk Section 1. Variable ‘performative’ cap 2. Polycarbonate with casing 3. Spring 4. Resilient surface

Slalom pole

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Corn field details

Exploded Diagram of Modular Plate

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Flexible poles

1. Integrated coupling Rubber tiles

Sectioned ramp-pad

Sandpit

Ballpit

2. Prefabricated recycled rubber tile

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3. Rubber tile pattern with integral stalk coupling 3

Water feature

Infill Diagram

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Tumbling Bay Playground Landscape Design: Erect Architecture, LUC Location: London, the United Kingdom Client: London Legacy Development Corporation Area: 165,000M2 Budget: ÂŁ 1,500,000 Photographer: David Grandorge Erect Architecture, LUC

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In order to find the right design team, the client, London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) held an international competition. The brief was to design a playground and building to include café , community spaces and park facilities to become the focal point of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park North. The key objectives for the project were to: ·Set the standard for exceptional and innovative design for further development in the Park; ·Convey a sense of ownership to local communities; ·Create a focal point for local gatherings; ·Use play as a draw for families from new neighbourhoods and Greater London;

·Open up landscape and ecology for leisure and education; ·Promote a healthy and active lifestyle as part of the Olympic Legacy.

The chosen site was a large area of flat tarmac, one of the Games concourses, located between the former Athlete’s Village and the Velodrome and bordering the River Lea Wetland basin. It required extensive physical and ecological enhancement to become a space of high physical and environmental quality.

The winning design by Erect Architecture and LUC explores and celebrates the rich ecological heritage of the UK. The new play landscape contains a series of character areas, which tell plant life-cycle stories. Interwoven with these is the play layer,

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which uses these stories to inspire bespoke play and potential event opportunities within each space. Fluid landforms and swathes of planting ensure the play landscape blends seamlessly with the wider parkland.

The building is designed as integral part of the landscape.

Sculptural mounds and planting frame conceal or reveal the building.

CafĂŠ and community spaces are generously dimensioned, welcoming and light-filled. Materials and textures in the building correspond with adjacent landscape elements further embedding the building in its landscape context.

Before and during construction, the design team collaborated closely with artists and craftsmen to realise a design that was original and unique, creating imaginative bespoke play elements and landscape features, such as the intricate Scots Pine play structures and the hand-laid textured concrete surfaces.

To ensure a successful outcome, best practice in planning and implementation was very important. The project had to integrate into the site-wide legacy development plan as well as the complex planning history of the Olympic Park. The design achieved BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) EXCELLENT and compliance with ambitious LLDC policies for accessibility, environmental as well as socio- economical sustainability and security. The project was designed and built on a very short timescale. Construction started at the end of December 2012 and completed for the scheduled opening on the first anniversary of the Games in July 2013.

Master Plan

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1 2

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3 2 3

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Section through Net Bridge

Net Bridge Spanning between Spiral Tree and Giant Tree

1. Bracing branch 2. Timber

1. Spiral Tree

3. Wire core ropes

2. Swing hung from net bridge

4. Wrapped in stainless steel fall arrest netting to prevent climbing out / climbing on outside

3. Net bridge hung from bracing branches 4. Giant Tree

5. Rope

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2

3

12 4

Giant Tree Elevation 1. Giant Tree branches

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2. Branch of Giant Tree bolted to branch of Spiral tree

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3. Top nest deck 4. Net bridge connection to Spiral Tree 5. Outlook seat fully enclosed 6. Gaps between tree pieces in-filled with smaller branches (attached to bracing tubes) to prevent climbing on outside of Giant Tree

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7. Entry from lower nest between main tree sections 8. Lower nest deck 9. Branch extending from log retention structure for access

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9 10

10. Entry below lower nest between main tree sections 11. Substructure to be Specialist Contractor's design

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12. Tree structure tapers towards top for added stability 13. Steel tube bracing begins min. 2 m above lower deck level to prevent climbing on outside of structure

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1

2

Giant Tree Lower Nest Deck Plan 1. Primary nest structure 3

2. Primary nest branches attached to Giant Tree to support deck 3. Wire core climbing ropes

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4. Giant Tree branches 5. Deck

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Galicia Park Landscape Design: BojJardineria, S. L. Playground design: Lappset Spain Contractor: Gruporaga, S. A. Location: Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain Client: Municipality of Alcobendas Area: 92,760 m² (Playground areas: 3,752m²) Budget: € 440,000 (Playground) Photography: Elena Martin, Victorino Mijangos

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This park was opened to public in 1993 and was remodeled along 2009-2010 by Gruporaga, S. A.. In 2009 the municipality of Alcobendas, attending the demands of the neighbours, launched the project of restyling of the Galicia Park.

The park is divided into three zones. The Zone A, located at the north, got new children playgrounds, fountains and a building for cafeteria. The Zone B, the central one, is the most important for the neighbourhood, in which the Anthill Playground area was developed. Finally, the Zone C, at the south, got a new botanic path, small lawn hills and a big recreation area for dogs.

New urban furniture, pedestrian walks and plantations of trees and shrubs were made in the three zones, and in zones A and B two pergolas were installed to provide shade in summer. The

three zones are interconnected with milestones that include different texts about Galicia (one of the seventeen regions in which Spain is administratively divided).

Also, the project involved the preservation of the existing vegetation through the transplantation of trees to new areas within the park.

The Anthill Playground is the key element in the park, highly valued by citizens and children. It’s a huge area which occupies more than 32,300 square feet (3,000 square metres) with lots of individual and group game sets and a big structure that simulates an anthill.

This structure, made in steel and PE lacquered in black and orange, has more than 13 feet (4 metres). in height and 39

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feet (12 metres). in width. It recreates the internal maze of an anthill so the children can go up and down, right and left, using the internal gateways and stairs and they can exit the anthill through one slide or the holes in the external wall, as if they were ants going inside and outside their anthill. The rubber protection floor has been also themed, with ants printed on it.

There are also two adjacent playgrounds to the anthill, one on the East, oriented to younger children, and one to the West for older. All of them are joined by the rubber floor.

Inside the playground area there are small hills with artificial turf.

Due to the highly intended use and maintenance difficulties arise.

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Clos Layat Park Landscape Design: BASE Landscape Architecture Location: Lyons, France Client: Area: 500 m2 Budget: Photography: BASE Landscape Architecture

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The project takes place in Lyon. It is away from the large parks of the city and its inhabitants suffer from the lack of leisureoriented spaces. At the place between the 7th, the 8th District and Vénissieux, the Clos Layat Park balances the functions of public parks with a space dedicated to the discovery of nature and outdoor activities, a cool island for the neighbourhood, an ecological relay at the scale of the metropolitan area.

As the last piece of the historical estate of the Saint-Jean de Dieu hospital, the site covers 3 hectares and is still surrounded by a high outer wall and a plane trees alignment.

The expansion of the hospital’s private park, which is located in a forest, makes it possible to gradually develop the park from a forest environment (promenade, picnic, wildlife observation

posts, etc.) to an open space (large lawn for leisure and outdoor games), the whole being linked by an arboreal border.

This classic and simple repartition of the park entities hosts a great richness of shadow and light situations.

The park has many different possible uses: a green theater and solarium terraces facing the next football fields, a 5382 square feet (500 square metres) playground.

The 5382 square feet (500 square metres) playground is divided into two parts: one is the trunk forest composed of 70 natural wood trunks tight with ropes, nets and hammocks, which create a play forest to climb, balance and hang from. The other is called the ‘mist swimming pool’, in which every 10 minutes a mist cloud appears and children hide while parents can refresh.

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The concrete ground is shaped like waves and painted with green crosses and stars. The mist slips through these shapes create a fun effect.

Another small playground is dedicated to very young children who can climb on wood painted sheep. At every corner of the parks are hided nests to host protected birds and hedgehogs in order to improve the park’s biodiversity. In the year of 2014, the park won an award for the quality of its sustainable design.

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Site Plan

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