YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
By redeveloping a residential area on the site of the former “Wenge Stadium”, the municipality of Eningen unter Achalm has created an attractive new play and leisure facility. As a result of the playground concept for the entire municipal area, this is the second “flagship playground” in town with a wide range of play and exercise facilities for all generations.
The basic planning idea is to put the former stadium to new use as a play and leisure facility: the old sports field becomes a “play arena”. In this way, the history of the redesigned site is “made visible” and the original uses are dealt with intensively. Thus, themes such as athletics, ball games and gymnastics are taken up and reinterpreted with the respective play opportunities.
The main aspects considered when selecting the individual stations were to encourage the development of motor skills, improve balance, fire the imagination, test skills, engage all the senses, provide climbing, running, sliding and balancing challenges – and above all, to have fun. The overall result was then again based on the main idea of the “play arena”, the stadium.
The oval-shaped arena is turned into a running track with start and finish lines and obstacles thanks to multi-coloured fall protection surfaces. A spacious seating area is built around the arena as a grandstand. Protected by extensive greenery, you can also climb and balance in the “north-side grandstand”, while various play and activity stations are nestled on the slope next to the “south-side grandstand”.
At the sides, the stadium grandstand is broken up into individual seating and playing stones, symbolizing the first use of the site as a quarry.
Existing trees were preserved and numerous new plantings were added. The preserved trees in particular create a pleasant atmosphere and provide plenty of shade for both the seating and play areas from the very beginning.
The main play area, the play arena, is oval in shape using appropriate ground modelling, taking into account the local topography and following the classic stadium shape, and it is bordered on the outside by dense greenery, such as groundcover plants, shrubs and trees. Inside the arena, there is a climbing structure, a rope net pyramid, the “announcer’s stand” as it is called as well as a sand and water play area, which takes up the former long jump pit. Here, children can explore the world of water, which - as always – fascinates them the most.
In the sloped grandstand areas, there are various balancing and climbing elements designed to promote physical activity and improve dexterity. The arena areas are disabled-accessible and offer a wide range of inclusive play and sports facilities.
Around the arena, various secondary areas provide additional opportunities for people to engage in physical activity and rest. There is a wide range of activities for all ages – ranging from the toddler area (“training ground”) with a sand play area and a playhouse (“sausage stand”) to the “back straight” with a spacious stadium forecourt with seating accommodation and ground-level access via a boules court as a single lane facility and an outdoor fitness area, a lawn for free, unstructured play and a calisthenics facility with integrated in-ground- trampolines.
Very varied, small-scale and frequent changes of the surfaces, such as cobbles, gravel, sand, wood chips, grass and colourful synthetic surfacing, provide haptic and tactile sensations and above all stimulate the imagination in the course of playing.
The different colours of the synthetic surfacing not only add variety and a touch of cheerfulness, but they also structure the different uses and stimulate creativity. The orange running track invites you to really let off steam and give it your all and the secondary area with its motivational and inspiring inscriptions encourages you to work out in the calisthenics area.
The arrangement and mutual allocation of the equipment and various areas makes it possible to play and work out together across all generations. The boules court, the outdoor fitness equipment and also the calisthenics facility are designed to attract not only children and accompanying persons to the play arena! However, also the persons accompanying the playing children can move, work out or relax or, even better, play along in many different ways while supervising the kids.
A footpath meandering across the playground provides easy, barrier-free access from the new residential area as well as from the bus stop on Wengenstraße, which directly adjoins the playground. The former stadium restaurant is directly attached to the site and offers parents the opportunity to take a short break while their children are in sight playing.
Web: www.fp-sigmund.de
