playgrounds & recreation
Outdoor play experiences are essential in the physical and mental development of children. Well-designed spaces engage and challenge visitors of all ages and abilities to discover, explore and learn.
play for all.
A welcoming and successful playground will address the needs of the community it seeks to serve. They are spaces not just for children, but for siblings, parents, carers and friends. Ecoscape were recognised for their work on Mueller Park Universal Playspace in Subiaco:
Mueller Park represents a promising progression in the development of all-abilities playgrounds. Rather than the primitive response of including one or two pieces of segregated and disability-specific equipment … this project goes a step further with the use of high-quality play equipment, carefully designed to suit the site and respect its context. The result is an intriguing and engaging playground which reflects an Australian commitment to social inclusion.
urban recreation.
An urban lifestyle unfortunately means people do not always have access to ‘natural’ environments and unstructured play experiences. The local park therefore becomes increasingly important in providing these experiences, particularly in urban and suburban areas. Ecoscape’s design for Barrow Park, North Coogee was recognised in the 2020 AILA national awards:
Barrow Park Play is an authentic community playground, firmly grounded in its context, that responds to the needs of locals and successfully provides a space that encourages all users to gather and participate. The area has a large number of families living in townhouses and apartments and the resident children lacked access to the kinds of spaces where they could socialize, express themselves and play in unstructured ways. The genius of the project was to recognize and understand this gap and proceed to undertake a collaborative design process with the local community to develop an authentic play space on an extremely limited budget, and evocative natural landscapes in a confined urban space.
nature play.
Nature play represents a return to playgrounds that comprise of natural elements that nurture childhood development through unstructured play. Provided in tandem with conventional educational environments, nature play can promote mental and physical wellbeing. A successful nature playground will provide calculated risks recognising that these are far healthier for children’s development than a totally de-risked play environment.
projects.
design.
office
Lvl 1 38 Adelaide Street
Fremantle (Walyalup) WA 6160
Whadjuk Boodja
phone
+61 8 9430 8955
Ecoscape offices are located in Walyalup, on the traditional lands of the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation. We work on many lands throughout Australia and acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community and pay our respects to their cultures, ancestors and Elders.