CREATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR EVERYONE
- a Centennial Park prospective
By Fiona Robbé, Landscape Architect, Sydney
The Paddington Gates playground in Centennial Park, Sydney, was opened in September 2004. This playground’s achievements lie in the Centennial and Moore Park Trust’s ongoing vision and commitment to providing a playground in Centennial Parklands that provides a place where all children can come together with families and carers – to play, socialise and to picnic together.
Also, this playground represents a tangible project in designing for children with and without disabilities – something we can all learn from. Sometimes theory and requirements of Standards seem hard to apply: how do all these needs get met in one place?
Since the year 2000, The Trust have prioritised funding towards the upgrading of their various playgrounds. Their objectives were:
- To have a proper design process.
- To cater for children of all ages
- Better provision for children with a disability
We started design on the Paddington Gates project in late 2003.
WHO ARE WE DESIGNING FOR?
Our brief for this playground was to design a playground for ALL children aged 1 – 12 years of age, as well as their carers. By ALL children we mean:
- Kids with a disability
- Kids without a disability
When we think of kids with a disability, who are we referring to? This is a complex topic; one Kate Bishop, who is an expert on play for disabled children, is qualified to talk about for hours. In short Kate Bishop defines three main groupings in the population of children with a disability – although this is somewhat academic!
- Physical disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy)
- Intellectual disabilities (e.g., Down’s syndrome)
Sensory impairments (e.g., visual impairments)
Within each grouping, there are rankings from mild to moderate to severe.
7% of children with a disability are classed as moderate to severe. Note that intellectual disabilities are the largest group. Naturally, there are overlaps between groups (e.g., Downs syndrome and visual impairment).Of interest to many people is how many children with a disability use wheelchairs. Here we see it is 2.3% of the population of children with a disability. I mention this only because time and time a gain we notice how misunderstood this statistic is. However, while these kids are around in small numbers, the changes made on behalf of this group are essential, and have changed the way we look at playground design.
So: HOW do we go about meeting the needs of children with a disability in design? This is complex indeed, and I want to leave you with one important message: in the words of a mother “What any child with a disability wants is friendship patterns, and something they enjoy doing to feel a sense of achievement – really, what everyone else wants. That’s all really”.
HOW DO WE GO ABOUT DESIGNING PLAYGROUNDS FOR EVERYONE?
1. Firstly, we put together a specialist design team. Naturally, we have the support of structural, civil and hydraulic engineers, geotechnical specialists and surveyors. Clive Dodd advised on safety and accessibility standards, Kate Bishop advised on the play of disabled children.
2. Secondly, we analysed the existing environment and existing equipment and uses.
3. Thirdly, we analysed the supporting facilities: protected areas; toilets; picnic and BBQ facilities; shade; access to/from site etc.
Then we could get on with the job of designing the new playground.
OUR MASTERPLAN
Initially, we concern ourselves with overall SPATIAL ARRANGEMENTS focusing on relationships to supportive features.
Following Kate Bishop’s recommendations, we designed two spaces:·
- Toddler space maximising existing equipment and a new toilet.
- Older children’s area – an area for children of all abilities. Fenced, with clear hierarchy of paths
Once we have the spatial arrangements organised, we look at the provision of PLAY ACTIVITIES – the careful selection of what to include in the playground.
Every piece of equipment is chosen with care – there are no arbitrary choices.
The equipment is selected to give children a graduated challenge. Also, materials are chosen for their essential contribution to sensory richness and pleasure, and clear, non-ambiguous messages. Plants (grasses and cannas), rocks and bricks will add to the sensory richness.
ACCESSIBILITY
Applying the Australian Standards for Accessibility and Mobility, Parts 1-4, proved to be one of the most challenging aspects of this project, especially in the application of Part 3, Requirements for Children and Adolescents with Physical Disabilities:
- It was difficult to apply the Standards to a natural area (when written for the built environment)
- There was lack of connection and support between Standards – lack of precedence
- There were parameters that we could not foreseeably achieve e.g., limits on number of ramps and landings
So we adopted the American guidelines and Standards especially written for playgrounds which unequivocally addressed accessibility issues. This gave us a clear path forward, and was an innovative design solution for what seemed an imponderable problem.
IN SUMMARY
In summary, how did we go about designing a playground for everyone?
1. We paid careful attention to overall spatial arrangements of playground features – clear, uncomplicated, unambiguous layout.
2. we chose equipment and materials to suit a range of children’s needs and play outcomes.
3. we used safety and accessibility guidelines and standards written specifically for playgrounds.
4. We had our plans and also the built landscape certified.
The key to the successful design of a playgrond for all abilities lies in a collaborative team approach. We use specialists for every step we take. This is true for all aspects of the project from design through to construction. Today we take pride in having a completed playground that will meet many of the needs of visiting children. I’d like to end this with a favorite statement of mine: Playing is living – for the child – for the future. - Children cannot speak for themselves in our society. It is crucial that as professionals, we are strong articulate advocates for the rights of children to play outdoors.
