YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
Groß-Gerau lies south of Frankfurt and has a population of about 25,000. It is home to many children and adolescents who play a role in the urban development.
To ensure development that benefits young people, the city worked with the children to put together a playground development plan. In addition to the marketplace, the concept for the inner-city region has identified the Steinstraße Playground as the most important playground for children in the city centre. In this respect, it was important that the opportunities for play and exercise there complement one another.
In the near future, these play areas will be connected by a green exercise trail, a sort of cross-generational play path (see map).
In the context of expeditions and planning workshops, the kids refined their ideas and defined very specific goals for this playground.
The playground is integrated into an extensive network of paths, which made it important to develop activities for both long- and short-term play, connected to the trails.
Requirements for the playground included:
In addition, there are also plans to enable so-called experimental play-flow for children between 6 and 10 years.
The children have explained this in a highly competent manner. It is not isolated play with a device that excites the children and helps them learn, but rather playing through the space with differing degrees of difficulty and routes that they themselves can discover and explore. An experimental back and forth, and the adaptation of play speeds to the given situation, creates a sense of excitement and encouragement.
This is where the main theme came from, ‘Bewegend auf dem Weg sein’, or ‘playfully on the way’. Not running to the individual playground equipment, but conquering the paths in a playful manner.
It was also important to take up the basic structure of the square and consider the spatial inventory. The playground has an elongated, narrow character and is lined with a footpath that continues through the city. Lateral hedges frame the space.
The playable width of the main area is only about 6 – 8 metres with a length of about 30 metres.
This required space solutions and adopting neighbouring green spaces for playful exercise.
Thanks to the playground development plan, the participation of the children and the associated binding political decisions, it was possible to implement the proposals of the planning office. This included the integration of a separate trampoline arena and an additional swing garden on directly adjacent areas.
The children’s desire for a green, scenic space speaks of a certain longing for natural environments within the city. As a result, it was necessary to integrate bordering trees directly into the play options and incorporate the access areas under the trees. This includes the option to climb the trees more easily after the redesign. What an excellent idea! In terms of safety, this was made possible thanks to a risk assessment based on DIN EN 1176.
The new elements of the playground are not simply strung together; they flow into each other and have distinct connections. The children have to climb and balance, overcoming lower and higher sections, to continue their play.
The central axis of play begins at the eastern entrance. This section takes kids over stones, beams and a small rubber bridge; they can linger there a while or choose to go into the play area. Some of the stones have a height of over 100 cm, making it possible to jump up or down.
The jiggling trampoline-like membrane requires a special form of skill, as it reacts directly to the children’s weight and speed. It is also slippery when wet, which is specifically designed to encourage kids to pay extra attention.
Wooden beams at varying angles, part of the path, lead to the play tower. The wild stones are deliberately oriented to create rest areas. Rigid and moving elements alternate in the small route. The membrane and horizontal bars are U-shaped; a kindergarten requested the option to use this inner area as a multifunctional space.
Once the children arrive at the tower, one of the major elements to come out of the planning workshop, they can take a break in the lowest floor made of wood. The central high point was one element the children really wanted. The challenge is to climb up inside using a few ropes on a bias. At the same time, the ropes also represent a swinging rest area.
The kids can choose how to continue their journey up the tower: via a net ladder or a bar slide. The slide complements the variable play and exercise potential.
Diverse forms of play and exercise are possible in the bars. Children can climb with their hands and feet or using their entire body. The differentiated sloping beams and round wooden poles lie at various positions in the surface, which makes each step and handle a new situation. The children conquer the rest of the trail with playful exercise.
In the climbing bars, the focus is the penetration of the space from all sides. The challenge in the ‘forest of bars’ is moving ahead while going over and under the bars. Bouldering as a route and not just as a wall. Three-dimensional climbing is possible here.
The adjoining trampoline arena is a rest area, circus space, play spot and important exercise point in the city.
The trampolines complement each other in a so-called four-leaf clover. This combination simplifies more tricks in combination and playing together.
The theme ‘on the way’ comes to an end with the family swing garden in the entrance area of the adjacent kindergarten.
Summary
The new play area has been customised to the needs of the children. A clear design and the use of materials give the playground a novel significance in the city. The design ‘entices’ and encourages the children to get involved with all their senses.
Children can and must immerse themselves in the various play activities.
With its inviting character, the playground enables the children to experience the sections in different ways, which on the whole and in detail have been developed so that no next step or hand grip is the same. Kids can be kids!
The integration of the existing trees and the addition of surrounding plants create that sense of a green, scenic landscape that the children desired.
Photo: Schelhorn Landschaftsarchitektur
