Playground and Parks

The big park puzzle

Designing a park is much more than choosing a slide. Fingal’s team has to fit many needs into one place:

• Fun: things to climb, swing, run on and explore.
• Access: paths and play equipment that more children can use.
• Safety: safe surfaces, clear sightlines and equipment that meets standards.
• Nature: room for trees, wildlife and healthy soil.
• Water: a plan for heavy rain so paths and play areas do not flood.
• People: listen to children, families and neighbours.
• Money and care: build what can be maintained and repaired for years.

The challenge: improving one thing must not accidentally make another thing worse.

Example 1: a new park for Naul

Naul Village Park is a new project that includes a major playground. Starting from a mostly blank site sounds easy, but designers still have big choices to make.

What must they solve?

• Connect the park safely to the village.
• Make routes that work for walking, wheeling and buggies.
• Fit active play alongside quieter walks and places to rest.
• Protect the landscape and make space for nature.
• Decide what can be built within the available budget.

Earlier plans for the park included looped walks, information about local archaeology, geology and trees, several pedestrian entrances and nearby parking. Each feature needs space, so the whole park has to work as one joined-up design.

 

Example 2: upgrading Millennium Playground

An older playground already has equipment, paths and regular visitors. The challenge is to spot barriers and improve the space without losing what works.

At Millennium Playground, people explained that wood-chip surfacing was difficult for wheelchairs to cross and could hurt knees in a fall. The refurbishment added:

• Rubber surfacing that wheelchairs can roll across more easily.
• Inclusive equipment, including wheelchair swings.
• Communication boards to help children express themselves and join in.

This shows why listening matters: the people who use a playground can notice problems that are not obvious on a drawing.

 

1. Investigate

• Who uses the space?
• What stops someone joining in?
• Where does rainwater go?
• Which plants and animals live nearby?

2. Design

• Draw paths and entrances first.
• Add play for different ages and abilities.
• Include shade, seating and quiet areas.
• Keep nature connected.

3. Test your idea

• Can everybody get around?
• Is it fun and safely challenging?
• Will it cope with wet weather?
• Can Fingal look after it?

 

Your design challenge

Imagine Fingal asks your class to improve a local park. Create a labelled plan that includes one exciting play idea, one accessibility improvement, one way to manage rain, one feature for wildlife and one quiet place.

Then explain your toughest trade-off: what did you want to include, and what had to change because of space, safety, nature or cost?