"Best Playgrounds Ever" Photo Stream

Click on the image above to be taken to a photo stream of some pretty interesting play structures.

Universal Access - New Accessibility Requirements

March 15, 2012 marks an important day for playground design... new accessibility standards will come into effect.

In addition to general requirements for site design, this is the first time that specific requirements for play area design have been included within ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) guidelines, so it is important to be familiar with them if you are involved with play area design.

These are two sections specific to play design:

Chapter 2 - Section 40 relates to general scoping and technical requirements. Section 40 is specific to play areas. If you click on the link, it won't take you directly to this section. You will need to scroll down or click on the appropriate index links that come up.

Chapter 10 - Section 1008 relates to the specific requirements for accessible routes, transfer elements, etc...

If you are responsible for play design (i.e. a landscape architect who is stamping drawings), it is your responsibility to be familiar with these requirements to ensure that your play spaces meet code requirements.

What Winter Does to Playgrounds

We recently received some winter photos of a playground we designed for Eccles Elementary School in Cordova, Alaska (images from Gary Max of Gametime). This has been an extraordinary year for Cordova for the amount of snow they have received, and it gives new meaning to 'northern design'. Play structures develop new ways to be used, and snow becomes one of the best parts of the playground. They appear to be cutting the snow into chunks to remove it from the portion of the playground that is over the new school gym. What great building blocks!

The two photos to below show what the playground looks like when it doesn't have so much snow (images from Corey Wall of MRV Architects).

BEFORE the big snows... the roof of the new gym.

BEFORE the big snows.

NOW... the images AFTER the big snows:

Swings, a tilted sky-runner, and an exercise station
to the right. All mostly buried.

A close-up of the 'tilted sky-runner'... grounded.

This is where all of the chunks of snow are coming from...
the roof above the gym. See the photo at the top of this post
to see what this area normally looks like.

Spreading the chunks of snow from the roof out over the
playground. I hope someone sends us a photo of how the kids
used these when they discovered them on school day!

Shoveling the roof of a covered play area.

I wonder about the safety of moving the swing seat
up so high you could whack your head on the top bar.

February 29, 2012 update:
We received some more photos from Rochelle van den Broek in Cordova. As we suspected, the kids did get crafty with those snow blocks and created their own igloo.

Getting crafty with snow blocks... igloo style.

Ban the Ball!

Rex Murphy is a fantastic commentator... I've seen him speak in person as a keynote at a conference, and I was enthralled by the research he had done in preparation. He has the ability to take in information, mull it over, and give it back to you with thoughts and connections that make it fresh and new.

With this clip, he brings his powerful sarcasm to bear on the idea that balls should be banned (or perhaps a controlled substance) on the playground. Definitely worth watching!

Rex Murphy - Ban the Ball

Skedaddle

As designers, we cherish when we can get the "real scoop" on what people think of our designs... or on the designs of others. The final arbiter of whether something is successful comes from the user.

We just found out about a play group in Anchorage that goes to a different park, play area, trail, etc... each week. The person who organizes the group writes up their trips. We love the fact that the blog acts as a local review for our natural and playspaces. Have a look... maybe do the same in your community:

Inventing Games

Clif had an interesting contest where they asked kids to invent games. Here is a link to the finalists: Clif Backyard Kid Games Contest

Pavement Games

Pavement games can be a great way to add inexpensive play opportunities to a playground. This is a school playground in Edmonton where they had a decent variety including some curriculum based fun (a calculator?). The fun of some of these is guessing how they're supposed to be played... that is, IF there is a way they're supposed to be played.