Case Studies
Roma Street Parkland Children’s Playground

Design Feature

Type of project
Playground, Local Government Initiative
State
Queensland
Location
Urban
Roma Street Parkland, located in the heart of Brisbane across an expansive 16-hectare site, has been a favourite destination for the city since its creation over sixteen years ago. During this time, the Parkland has established itself as one of the nation’s premier parks and best examples of contemporary horticultural design.
An interactive space and horticultural spectacle
The client, City Parklands Services, had a vision to significantly enhance the play experience within Roma Street Parkland and establish a high-quality nature-based interactive play experience whilst reinforcing its famous horticultural reputation. In partnership with Playscape Creations, Lat27 transformed the space into a new hive of activity within the broader Parklands.
Roma Street Parkland comprises a myriad of garden spaces designed for a wide range of uses, with the intention to attract visitors of all ages and backgrounds. The site chosen for the delivery of the playground formed part of a broader strategy to reactivate a quiet and disconnected corner of the parkland. The introduction of a new award-winning playground destination brought with it the necessary energy to reinvigorate this space and provide a positive connection to neighbouring parkland features.
In early 2014, City Parklands Services (the client and manager of Roma Street Parkland and South Bank Parklands in Brisbane) awarded the project to the winning design team led by Playscape Creations and Lat27. LANDPLAN also formed an integral role delivering expert horticultural advice for the project. Bligh Tanner assisted with storm water management and EMF managed the electrical and lighting design. JMAC Constructions built the project in conjunction with Playscape creations.
The play experience, entwined with horticultural wonderment, was paramount to the ultimate success of this project. Great consideration was given to access, both physical and visual, safety, comfort and legibility to ensure a rich play experience was available to all visitors of all abilities and ages and future connectivity to the area to be redeveloped as Stage 2. This was achieved through equitable access to most of the play areas and play equipment, strategic rest points for parents (which also afforded casual surveillance), and a series of ‘loops’ to create a highly connected and journey-oriented play space.
The playground has evolved greatly since its opening, with foliage now enveloping the secret garden paths and rope bridges, framing slides and ever so quickly ‘breaking’ the edges of materials to give the appearance that it has always been a part of the parkland. As a result, the playground offers the unique opportunity for children to interact directly with nature.
The playground experience is designed to deliver a rich sensory experience through diversity of planting and materials along with the integration of existing mature trees. It also provides a testing ground for the children of all ages and abilities to challenge their physical ability to circumnavigate the variety of journeys within the playground.
The playground design and relationship to the surrounding parkland areas has facilitated the growth of a new community hub that affords family and broader social interaction.
Project team
  • City Parklands Services – Brisbane City Council
  • Playscape Creations
  • Lat27
  • LANDPLAN
  • Bligh Tanner
  • EMF
  • JMAC Constructions

Project Cost
The playground project delivered formed Stage One of the overall project and was constructed for approximately $550,000.
Health Value
  • The Children’s Garden (including a working worm farm and vegetable garden) supports healthy built food environments through access and education.
  • Each of the areas provide children with a different type of play experience that helps them build their physical, sensory and social skills while they play.
  • The park was designed to be fun and educational, enabling children and adults to explore the seven Senses - hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste, vestibular and proprioception, which is the sense of position and strength of movement of the limbs.
  • This playground design offers challenging play for a variety of age groups.

Economic Value
The new destination playground is a major attraction of Roma Street Parklands, attracting new visitation and business to the urban oasis.
Environmental Value
  • A key feature, and point of success of the project, was the integration of the playground within the existing parkland fabric.
  • To complement the dramatic topography of the area laid under a broad dense canopy of existing mature trees, all of the existing garden elements (e.g. basic path network, retaining walls etc.) were re-purposed and unified to create a cohesive multi-sensory experience with an exploratory thread of discovery. The playground was carefully nestled in to the space to complement and benefit from the surrounding environment.
  • The significant slope of the land presented a challenge for stormwater control. This was turned into an opportunity to create a rocky and planted dry creek bed. This traces the edge of the play area, offering a positive stormwater solution to protect the play area, whilst incorporating a natural rocky play feature to explore under the trees.
  • A rich and dense palette of plants were utilised to capture colourful floral displays, macro and micro flora for an array of leaf size, colour and texture and plant form to create tunnels, screens and ‘secret’ trails.
  • Functionality and maintenance are integral to the long-term success of all landscape projects. Play equipment and materials were selected for robustness and serviceability to reduce long-term maintenance load and expenditure.

Social Value
  • The reactivation of this hub in the Parkland has brought a high-level of community activity and energy present day and night. This activation greatly increases general community safety through casual and passive surveillance and general community occupation with 16% of visitors in 2017 visiting the playground and Children’s Garden area.
  • The design also integrates numerous opportunities where children can gather and interact informally to build on social skills, role play and imagination-based play. Generous seating areas also provide a space for adults to rest and compare notes with other parents in a relaxed shady parkland setting.

Use Value
  • Every opportunity was explored and harnessed to create a memorable and fun play experience for users.
  • The space offers a significant addition to the family friendly activities available at the Parklands, attracting and engaging children of all ages and abilities to participate in healthy behaviours.
  • The new playground has enjoyed numerous events and has happily hosted classroom-sized groups for horticultural based educational activities.

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