space2place design inc., with POD Design
Garden City Play Environment is a public place designed for children near the city centre of Richmond, British Columbia. The play environment provides an experientially rich play environment that fosters children's physical, emotional, social and cognitive development. The park is an organic, flowing space where the structures and systems combine to create a setting that invokes the natural world and reflects the regional character of the Pacific Northwest. Interaction with elements and processes such as water, stone, sand, salvaged tree limbs and ribbons of perennial vegetation provides children with a connection to larger natural systems, while nurturing long-term environmental stewardship.
photo: Lynette Bondarchuk
“This park is a welcome departure from the conventional municipal park format and offers a rich variety of play experiences and environments catering to a wide range of age groups, users and needs. The imaginative use of materials and the special attention to the design of individual play elements is an excellent complement to what appears to have been an exemplary consultation and analysis process involving end-users (the kids and the community at large) and the incorporation of safety, sustainability, accessibility and long-term durability criteria. This is a community asset that will inspire other similar initiatives elsewhere.”