Paradise Creek: Sustainable Playground Designs

ParadiseCreek_SustainablePlaygroundDesigns (click PDF)

Spring 2013

Team members: Chandler Moore, Jennifer Natyzak, Hannah Heile, Thomas Wheet, Alison Dietze

Paradise Creek Nature Park (PCNP) is an urban park that includes about 11 acres of wetland restoration and an area designated by the US Navy as safe haven for wildlife. The wildlife has been preserved and the park established, now the park needs visitors. A playground is a great attraction to bring together families and community members from around the region. Sustainably built play structures will support the goals of PCNP and create a fun and interesting experience for children and families. The focus of the PCNP is to educate the community about sustainable practices that individuals can implement within their own neighborhood, while enjoying the environment.

As students of the University of Virginia’s Global Sustainability course in the Paradise Creek Nature Park workshop, we created a portfolio of industrial and natural structures which may serve to inspire or supply design concepts. We hope this array of options is beneficial to the park because the park leaders may prioritize the most important aspects of the playground by a range of economic, resource, and aesthetic factors.

This collection of playground structures and concepts gathered over the last semester has been organized into Industrial and Natural designs. These designs are both aspects important to an urban park located in a highly industrial area. Information and citations of design objects is listed and available for reference. We hope this collection will provide Paradise Creek Nature Park with the means to pursue a creative, sustainable playground area to attract and impress visitors.