Project Summary

Architecture: Pop Architecture
Construction, Structural Engineering & Existing Materials Consulting:
Revival Projects
Photography: Willem-Dirk du Toit
Project Type: Education

Design Details

The new play structure at East West Childcare & Kindergarten is a highly adaptable addition to a small urban site, replacing a much loved, but diseased tree.

A stainless steel ‘trunk’ of expanded mesh supports raised platforms of steel and timber, connected by a timber post-and-beam structure. It engages with the new adjacent fence, featuring viewing windows and decorative finials representing Bundjil and the seven Wurundjeri seasons.

The design distils the qualities of a tree as playground, providing shelter, height, and climb- ability without dictating to or interfering with the user’s imagination.

A restrained selection of materials, chosen for their durability and environmental responsibility, were selected through consultation with Revival, a sustainable construction specialist. Reclaimed materials like timber and tyres, were also utilised in the design.

The outcome is an inviting and non-prescriptive play structure – prompting imaginative play, providing a sense of place, site specific and adaptable for the future.