Concept proposed to make Royal Park’s “Nature Play” playground more accessible

The idea was presented by the team at local business Folk Architects at the IRREGULAR festival in May, which was led by the North and West Melbourne Precinct Association. 

As part of Melbourne Design Week, IRREGULAR saw people who live, work, and play in North and West Melbourne present their visions for improving local public spaces.

When Folk Architects were invited to participate in the festival, it proposed a re-envisioning of the Royal Park “Nature Play” playground to make it more accessible for people of all abilities.

“As a practice, we have a particular interest in inclusive design and advocating for a built environment that accommodates everyone,” Tim Wilson, director of Folk Architects, told North West City News.

Mr Wilson said that his personal experience of having a daughter with cerebral palsy opened his eyes to the built environment, making him think more deeply about the ways that public spaces could be made more accessible.

“As an architect, we’re always thinking about how we can improve people’s daily lives through design and architecture,” Mr Wilson said. 

I think that certainly now, having personal experience with disability and seeing lots of room for improvement, it’s become a bit of a mission for us as a practice to try and advocate for building an environment that accommodates everyone. That was the key motivation behind it.

The “Nature Play” playground, which is situated near the Royal Children’s Hospital, uses natural materials and landscaping to create a space for kids to simultaneously play and engage with nature. It currently features rope ladders, slides, sandpits, swings, a water play area and sculptures to play on. 

The proposal envisions new features such as an accessible flying fox with a harness seat, and adding cocoon-like sensory spaces to the pre-existing sculptures. 

Mr Wilson said that these spaces can provide a sense of enclosure within the play space, and provide a calming environment for people with neurodiverse needs to retreat from active play and self-regulate.

Other features proposed in the concept include inground trampolines as well as a Changing Places toilet facility. These kinds of toilets are larger than standard accessible toilets and include automated change tables and hoists. Such facilities open more spaces to individuals with limited mobility.

Since presenting these ideas at IRREGULAR, the City of Melbourne and the Department of Neurodevelopment and Disability at the Royal Children’s Hospital have both expressed interest in the project. 

“We’re very much at this point open to expanding upon it and partnering with others who are experts in the space,” Mr Wilson said. 

“Particularly when you have families that are spending lots of time in the hospital, it’s important to have those transitional spaces where you can come out and feel like you’re engaging with nature in the play space, but also have some shelter as well.” •