YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
On the edge of the Sydney Olympic Park with a view over the Parramatta River, is one of Sydney's most spectacular and popular playgrounds - the Blaxland Riverside Playground.
Embedded in a beautiful parkland, the Blaxland Riverside Playground is a three-hectare colourful adventure world that invites its visitors to discover and try things out.
The urban ambience of modern residential areas, leisure and harbour facilities as well as the hilly landscape of the Sydney Olympic Park were the main inspiration for the design of the playground. There are many open areas that are ideally suited for running and letting off steam, interspersed with conical or trapezoidal hills, which provide the basis for numerous playground equipment, but at the same time also ensure movement and dynamism in the architecture of the playground. Thus, the landscape of this green suburb of Sydney is reflected in the design of the Blaxland Riverside Playground.
The more or less steep hills are repeatedly interrupted by round or semi-circular recesses and by tunnels - creating rest zones in addition to activity zones.
Urban, colourful and creative
When designing the playground, it was particularly the needs of children of all age groups which had to be taken into account. However, children love to try things out, to discover the space around them in all directions and sometimes even disregard the laws of gravity: Horizontal, vertical playground equipment that projects in all directions, such as slides, climbing nets, ropeways and swings, not only encourage the urge to move and coordination, but also stimulate the child's imagination.
In addition, children love places of retreat, such as secret and mysterious corners and caves to which adults have only limited access. Thus, it was also important to consider imaginative retreats and quiet zones during the design planning phase, such as caves and tunnels leading through the hills, small colourful corners and niches where children can retreat and feel safe.
At the same time, the aforementioned corners, nooks and crannies had to be bright, friendly and easily visible from the outside to give children and their parents a sense of security.
Because of its numerous extraordinary playground equipment, the Blaxland Riverside Playground in Sydney has long since achieved cult status, attracting visitors from even the remotest parts of the city. It was the playground equipment manufacturer Kaiser & Kühne who designed and built some of the equipment:
The four stainless steel slides are not only popular with small children.
Three tunnel slides with a length of 2.5 to 3.20 metres and a wide slide with a height of three metres are among the most popular playground devices in the park. The slides themselves are embedded in the hilly landscape of the playground, they tunnel under the conical play hills and form a natural part of the play landscape. The slides are therefore not accessible by ladders, but via climbing elements which are attached to the play hills.
A spectacular attraction, which especially thrills both older and adventurous children as well as youngsters and even adults, is the 50-metre-long "Flying Fox". This playground device is designed as a double ropeway and ensures rapid flights over the playground landscape.
In addition to numerous individual swings, there is also the opportunity to try out swinging together with others, on the so-called Viking swing, which allows up to five children to swing together all at once.
In addition to its view over the bay, the playground has many other attractions to offer, which are also thematically integrated into the park and water landscape of Sydney Olympic Park: The water features, consisting of wells and fountains, are highly frequented, especially in the hot summer months.
The 12-metre-high "tree house" invites adventurous children and adults to climb and explore: Inside the wooden construction there are climbing nets, ladders and stairs that take the visitors up to the viewing platform, from where one has a magnificent view over the Parramatta River.
An inclusive playground for all generations
Opened in 2012, the Blaxland Riverside Playground was designed conscientiously and in a forward-looking sustainable manner: As part of a beautiful park landscape, the playground is extremely frequented at all times of the year and day, so the structures and play equipment had to be particularly robust and durable.
The architects therefore opted for artificial turf and colourful EPDM for the ground covering, especially for the play and climbing hills. Normal grass would be worn out in short time taking into account the high number of visitors, so artificial turf is a more durable alternative.
The pressure-resistant EPDM is also ideally suited for high loads, and it also allows barrier-free access to all playground equipment and play areas for wheelchairs and prams.
The play equipment itself, the slides, ropeways, swings and water play equipment, are made of high-quality stainless steel able to withstand decades of heavy use without rusting or weathering.
During the design planning phase of the playground equipment, Kaiser & Kühne worked together with a team of architects to ensure that it was accessible to visitors of all ages: The playground is designed for both children, youngsters and adults, as well as for people with disabilities. The slides and swings are wide enough to enable also youngsters and adults to try them out, which is very popular among the visitors. Every day at Blaxland Riverside Playground you can see whole families frolicking around the hills together and watch grandparents trying out the playground equipment with their grandchildren. The playground area is like a park as if from a picture book. The architects have succeeded in capturing the lively and multicultural atmosphere of Sydney and transforming it into a playground of high-quality level.
