Creative Solutions for Everyone - A Centennial Park Perspective

"Playing is living - for the child - for the future" Fiona Robb.

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(Extract of the complete Play for All material)

Centennial Park is one of Sydney's oldest parks, situated close to the city centre. It is a romantic park, cherished by the residents, and is a favourite place for children of all ages. Paddington Gates Playground lies close to the north side of the park and provides a place where all children can come together with families and carers to play, socialise and to picnic together.

This playground represents a tangible project in designing for children with and without disabilities - something we can all learn from. It is what we call a Universal Design Playground, a playground where all potential users are accommodated in the one design solution.

We need built examples to learn from because sometimes theory and research on one hand and design practice on the other seem to lack an interface. There is the perennial question of form versus function. Not to mention the demands of Australian standards for access, mobility and also playgrounds. None of these documents give a clear basis for caring design for children of all abilities.

So how do we go about Universal Design? It's a good idea to start with knowing who we are designing for.

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:

• children with a disability
• children without a disability

Carers accompanying children may also have a disability; which adds another dimension.

When we think of children with a disability, who are we referring to? This is a complex topic, but in short there are three main groupings in the population
of children with a disability (although this is somewhat academic!):

• physical disabilities
• intellectual disabilities
• sensory impairments

Within each grouping, there are rankings from mild to moderate to severe. 37% of children in Australia with a disability are classed as moderate to severe. Intellectual disabilities are more common than other disabilities. Naturally, there are overlaps between groups. Of interest too many people, is how few children with a disability actually use wheelchairs - only 2.3% of the population of children with a disability infact do. This is important to mention because time and time again we notice how misunderstood this statistic is. However, while there are only small numbers of these children the changes made on behalf of this group are essential, and have changed the way we look at playground design.

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 the following message expressed by 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."

Our masterplan

The playground design addresses the following principles:

1. Social Accessibility: ensure the playground is close to supportive facilities for the community (e.g. carpark, toilets, drinking fountains, bbqs, and public transport).

2. Spatial Arrangement: provide distinct "pods" of activity around a central, unambiguous path system.

3. Play Activities: provide as many play activities as the budget will allow, with no one activity dominating the playground. All activities should be both physically and intellectually accessible to all groups of children. Provide graduated challenges where possible. Strive for a balance of play activities at ground level, as well as those which come from platforms and higher levels.

4. Natural Setting: design for sensory play opportunities through the provision of varied natural materials.

5. Shade: trees and shade structures should complement the design, especially where children will be occupied in one place for a while.

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. For example we adopted a 1:20 maximum grade on all accessible paths of travel, allocating the use of landings to path junctions and pause points (e.g. gates).

In summary

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 playground 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. The end result is a playground that meets many of the needs of visiting children and their carers.

I'd like to end with: Playing is living - for the child - for the future.

We suggest that you also read this case: A Regional Flagship Playground: King George V Park, Farnborough, England