SERIOUS ABOUT FUN

Working with a nature-based brief, Dubbo’s latest playspace blends seamlessly with its surroundings and offers tonnes of inclusive fun.

Tasked with designing and installing an inclusive nature-based playground within historical Cameron Park in Dubbo, Austek Play designed a carefully thought-out plan to incorporate the extensive use of natural materials and achieve just the right note for Dubbo Regional Council. Located in Wellington, the new playspace offers a comprehensive selection of play structures to ensure something for everyone — regardless of age or ability.

Being a government-funded project, Dubbo Regional Council had very clear and defined objectives for the project, determined by extensive community consultation and internal planning. Led by the NSW Government’s Everyone Can Play guidelines, which focus heavily on inclusivity and accessibility, Austek Play designed a playscape that clearly communicates the purpose and location of play elements and facilities.

Cameron Park houses six distinctive zones within the space, to provide a wide range of play opportunities for users of all ages and abilities. In addition, the equipment installed was chosen to ensure both individual experiences and social interaction, giving everyone a chance to connect and gain the most benefit from the play options. Much of the equipment combines highly challenging developmental activities with interactive role-playing functions that encourage socialisation and stimulate the imagination.

Within the wider scheme of the park, the playground utilises existing landscaping to create natural shade, highlighting sensible health and wellbeing objectives while enhancing a connection to nature through the local landscape. Keeping parents and carers comfortable, a series of seating areas was also created to ensure comfort and safety for all park users and encourage community engagement.

The notion of supporting multigenerational and community interaction is an important aspect of the Austek Play design ethos. Careful not to reinvent the wheel each time, the company takes great care to offer traditional play activities — those tried and true units loved by kids of all ages — and incorporates opportunities for innovation through design. The Cameron Park playspace embraces inclusivity and accessibility through layout and equipment selection, but is also achieved by encouraging interaction with carers and users. This was accomplished through the intelligent use of surfacing. A mix of materials and the use of colour helps to assist in inclusivity and provides visual clues to accessibility, without sacrificing connectedness.

While each play zone has a specific purpose or target group, the elements chosen throughout the entire playspace are designed to attract and encourage all users to explore the entire space.

The Senior Adventure Zone boasts a 4.95m Hags Uniplay Lycce Tower with an impressive stainless steel slide and visually striking centrepiece. Aimed at children 5-12 years of age, the platform-to-platform climbing activities are a great risk assessment task for users, but still offers ground-level equipment to draw the interest of younger children — so no one misses out. As does the Hags Spinmee roundabout, which sits flush to the ground, making it highly usable for those with mobility impairment and wheelchair users.

A source of pride in the Junior Adventure Zone is the bespoke timber cubby. Geared towards the 0-5 year olds, the wooden structure is perched atop a manmade rubber embankment with built-in slide — providing just enough height interest for bigger kids. A series of timber steppers leading to the peak also make an interactive exploration for adventurers of all ages.

Ensuring inclusive opportunities for the mobility impaired and intergenerational mix, the last zone offers significant wheelchair access across all the play equipment. The Hags Eptix structure presents myriad challenges and activities with social and imaginative play opportunities. Not just easily accessed by players, this space provides easy access for parents and carers as well, helping them to be a part of the fun. Everyone loves the Goro Swing, which holds an intergenerational Tango seat and lets adults swing face-to-face with children, ensuring safety and positive interaction. And that’s only some of what is on offer at Cameron Park.

With every angle covered, the Cameron Park playscape is a rousing success with Dubbo residents. An important development in the regional town, this highly-considered park is a mark of pride in the community. “This new playspace has already done wonderful things for Wellington’s town centre,” claimed Ben Shields, Mayor of Dubbo.

“I am particularly proud of the inclusiveness of this entire space, not only the play elements, but the accessible path system, drinking fountain and the barbecue facilities.”

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PROJECT PARTICULARS
Client Dubbo Regional Council
Location Wellington, NSW
Play Equipment Supply Austek Play
Design & Installation Austek Play

COMPANY INFO
Austek Play