Plaswijckpark
The outdoor play park Plaswijckpark in Rotterdam offers space for children to explore, play and learn from a variety of adventures. Plaswijckpark has a 300 m2 area called ‘Havenspeeltuin’(Harbour playgarden), the part that we were asked to redesign.
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year: 2019
client: Plaswijckpark Rotterdam
assignment: research and design of an interactive water playground of 300m2. Suited for children of 3 - 12 years and for parents to supervise and reside.
wishes: make use of current (square) pool and tower
design values: stimulating adventure and play, safe, spacious
partner: project when working at MMEK’ experience design -
Design
Prototype
Testing Prototype with children
Building -
The result is a colorful, spacious and practical playground where kids and parents can harmoniously play and reside. See below :)
The former ‘Havenspeeltuin’ in 2017. Image by Plaswijckpark
Within the vision that children learn best through playful activities, the quest was to redesign the park - efficiently reusing the two largest existing elements: the pool and the centrally placed play tower.
“Children learn best through playful activities”
Important challenges for the project have been: How to keep the playground interesting and safe for both young children (up to 4 years) and elder children (up to 12 years)? How to allow for enough space for all children to play when it's crowded in peak season, while offering an interesting set of games in the off-season? How to create space and overview for parents to either join in the play, or relax and supervise while their kids are playing?
Render of design proposal. Parents can relax while being able to supervise their kids. Image by MMEK’
Examples of idea proposals for games
A large set of games was designed, being inspired amongst others by parcours games and the ‘Wipeout’ tv-series. The games were designed to be challenging for different age-groups, demanding various levels of skills and speed, making use of water jets that function in both predictable or random ways.
To get feedback on the proposed set of games, we asked the true experts: a session was organized with a group of children that is closely involved in Plaswijckpark. In this session they are asked to rank and discuss what they found the coolest games. This input was used in the project to make a final game selection.
Spatial concepts with organic shapes and rectangular shapes.
Images by MMEK’
Next in the process, two spatial concepts were drafted that aim to create coherency among all elements. Elements such as water games, obstacle games, zones for different age groups, zones for relaxation, supervision and catering. Concept A was inspired by organic and round shapes, concept B based on rectangular shapes.
The result is a colorful, spacious and practical playground where kids and parents can harmoniously play and reside. The overall design language is based on rectangular shapes, so that the old waterpool needed little renovation and could integrate with the rest of the playground. Place for natural elements (like trees and green) and shipping containers is created, generating a natural outdoor ambiance with a wink to the famous harbor of Rotterdam.
After meetings with the producer, the final design has been built. See the slideshow below.
