A strong collaborative approach between Phase3, Emerge Associates and Nature Play WA’s expert staff led to the creation of this much-loved play space in the City of Vincent.
Braithwaite Park Nature Play Area is a play space that provides children with more opportunities than typical pre-formed playgrounds.
It was carefully designed and constructed to promote gross motor skills in children, encourage active play, and stimulating creativity and imagination in a natural setting.
The existing park had large, open turf spaces, which were previously under-utilised as parkland space, as well as significant Peppermint and Moreton Bay fig trees.
The key concern for the City of Vincent was to create a play space that was inclusive of children aged 10 to 14, an age bracket many nature-play parks fall short of.
Integrating a flying fox and an elevated climbing net provides challenge and risk elements for older children, however the design of these facilities and other play items within the space also ensures smaller children can use the area and not be in danger.
For smaller children, elevated timber decking, which is nestled among the existing Peppermint trees and connected with a rope bridge, provides great stages for imaginative role play and the sensation of being up in the trees.
In addition, the play space includes mounds, tunnels, slides, water play and a nest swing to keep children of all ages active, engaged and happily exploring, creating an elegant and functional public space.
Steel pods, which have had native climbers and bamboo planted in them, will ultimately engulf the structures to provide a semi-private space for leisure.
Materials selected included timbers and boulders for the climbing structures, recycled wine barrels as balustrade components to the elevated walkways, chain mesh for the fencing, stabilised gravel, graded pine bark mulch, and white washed sand.
PROJECT PROFILE
Braithwaite Park Nature Play Area
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT | Emerge Associates as lead designers, in collaboration with Nature Play WA, and Phase3 Landscape Construction.
BUILDER | Phase3 Landscape Construction
BRIEF | The landscape design brief was to integrate a nature-play space into the existing trees to activate the parkland, while also providing an alternative play experience to the existing off-the-shelf playground equipment.
BUILD TIME | Six months
FEATURES | Custom-made steel climbing structure, nine-metre bridge, elevated cargo net, slide, double cable ride, bird’s nest swing, swing module seat with
SS chains, handrail ropes, tepee cubbies, large zip line, water play, and tunnel.
LOCATION | Corner of Scarborough Beach Road and The Boulevard, Mt Hawthorn