Blaxland Riverside Park Regional Playspace

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Blaxland Riverside Park Regional Playspace

Firm

JMD Design
Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects

Type

Hospitality + Sport ›
Government + Health ›
Landscape + Planning › Public Park

YEAR

2012

In early June 2012 Blaxland Riverside Park Regional Playspace at Sydney Olympic Parklands was opened to expand the recreational opportunities of the Hargreaves and Associates masterplaned Blaxland Riverside Park. The playground immediately established itself as a must visit destination for families with children, with visitation outstripping the most optimistic client expectations. Due to the rich variety of experiences for children and adults, and its engagement with the river, groups set up for the day with picnics, barbeques and rugs and chairs. The playground has re-conceptualised the previously compartmentalised and equipment focused idea of play, where a space was clearly dedicated for child play time and the bored parents lingered around the edges. At Blaxland play equipment is secondary to the space and experience itself. Imagination is encouraged, play is challenging, and the perception of risk is reintroduced. Verticality is emphasized in the inverted cones and the 45 deg walls to the angular cuts through the new landform. The scale of the spaces and the elements within promotes interaction between different age groups thereby making the playground as much for the parents as it is for their kids. JMDdesign conflated the dominant earthforms of cones, cuts and terraces, established by Hargreaves and Associates to design a distinctive new project that maintains a dialogue with its context. A 200m long 3m high earth berm with conical voids and angular slices is the armature for play. It runs parallel to the existing 3 terraces and inverts the language of the existing conical fig mounds. Custom designed and proprietary items are built into and around the dominant earthform including a 12m tree house which directs views to the river in the distance, a water plaza with 156 jets sequenced to cater for the varying visitation patterns and age groups, a giant swig structure, tunnel slides, embankment slides, a flying fox, a sand pit and a large roof like climbing net. The language is bold, abstract and colourful.

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Blaxland Riverside Park Regional Playspace

Blaxland Riverside Park Regional Playspace

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team