Innovative and colourful playspaces designed to provide for the recreational needs of kids of all ages.

Designed by Playce, an award-winning studio that designs diverse and dynamic experiential play environments, Cameron Avenue Reserve and Progress Park playspaces are a celebration of bespoke neighbourhood level play and unstructured recreation for kids of all ages.

The parks are visually bold and present a kaleidoscope of colour through natural perennial gardens and matching vibrant pink and yellow play structures and patterned pavements. They provide a diverse mix of play and active recreation for younger children alongside more challenging elements for pre-teens, including a pump track, social swings, climbing walls and parkour components that allow users to socialise in a safe and inclusive local park environment.

To ensure play provision for all ages, Monash City Council acknowledged the importance of tween and teen play are catered for within a walkable local catchment. The end result was the redevelopment of an existing junior playspace and the implementation of new older tween recreation opportunities at the site.

With two separate reserves set on either side of an existing residential street, Council looked at how they could create two playspaces with a different age focus to complement each other. Traffic calming and appropriate access became a key focus of the project. Playce was required to connect the two spaces visually and also deal with the potential traffic hazard. This constraint ended up driving the design aesthetic. The use of vibrant colour, both on the ground and within the playscapes, therefore became critical to tying the two spaces together and clearly articulating crossing points for access. The resultant design of both spaces is a dynamic kaleidoscope of oranges, pinks and yellows that are both vibrant and iconic, connecting the two reserves visually.

The two reserves, Progress Park and Cameron Reserve provide play experiences for junior and senior children. Progress Park playspace focuses on younger play and includes swings, a play tower, sensory and tactile elements, a spinner and natural planted zones. The Cameron Avenue playspace provides a new exciting space for older kids, including opportunities for climbing, scootering and hanging out.

While skateparks can cater for some older children, there is a real gap in play for 8–14-year-olds, despite it being an absolutely critical time for childhood play. Too old for most traditional play spaces and not yet mature enough to travel independently to skateparks, recreation spaces or commercial precincts, many tweens are simply not being adequately catered for.

Cameron Avenue is a bold example of how play can be much more exciting and relevant to this older age cohort. At that age, they need to take risks, challenge themselves and improve fitness and strength. While sport becomes the focus for many children of this age, play provides more informal and fun opportunities for physical challenges, particularly for those not so interested or able to participate in sport and organised activities. Importantly, play for older females is a critical consideration.

Through consultation, Playce has found that monkey bars, balance and acrobatic components prove to be popular among girls. Therefore the design of Cameron Avenue Reserve includes a range of complex, challenging and diverse parkour and climbing activities, giving girls opportunities to be included and participate in this fun public space.

With a social basket swing providing another popular tween play element and a pump track providing entry-level wheeled play, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
The key to Cameron Avenue’s success is that it is not prescriptive. With its palette of vibrant yellow and pink bespoke concrete play walls, complemented with steel play and parkour elements, there is no defined theme for the space, encouraging older kids to appropriate and enjoy Cameron Avenue in whatever way they want. Having the scooter loop also provides any child the opportunity to engage in wheeled sports in a play environment rather than a designated skatepark, creating a welcoming and inclusive environment.

Cameron Avenue Reserve and Progress Park playspaces are a tangible neighbourhood-level example of how you can successfully design for older kids without resorting to sporting infrastructure such as multipurpose courts or a skatepark. Play is for all ages and Playce’s multi-focus approach to the Cameron Avenue site is a new benchmark for local, walkable and intergenerational play provision.

PROJECT PARTICULARS
Client City of Monash
Location Oakleigh South, Victoria
Landscape Architect Playce

COMPANY
Playce
P 03 9429 8000
E enquiries@playce.com
W playce.com