2012 Australian Kidsafe Awards, Childrens Services category.

23/10/2012 23:23
TESS MICHAELS of TRPLD, super wicked ninja playspace designer and JAMIE MILLER of JM Landscapes, way cool awesome FIEB building legend, wish to congratulate Innaburra Anglican College Preschool, Bangor, New South Wale, winners of a Highly Commended Award in the 2012 Australian Kidsafe Awards, Childrens Services category.

Pictures of the completed  design/build can be seen below.  A link to the other Kidsafe winners in this category can be found HERE.

Inaburra Preschool Bangor, Sydney, New South Wales.

Inaburra Preschool
Bangor, Sydney, New South Wales
 Construction: J M Landscapes

The design brief for this project was to,
* Create a safer more natural environment that would provide clear supervisory sight lines,
* Incorporate “dead” space that had previously been used for retaining or had been nominated by child care
   regulatory bodies as unusable,
* Restructure the playground levels to provide a clear direct pathway from top to bottom, reducing trip 
   hazards and providing a gently ascent/descent for parents with prams,
* Repurposing the lower slopes to incorporate play and small group areas.     





Preschool playspace, After, 2012. 





Preschool playspace, After, 2012. 







Preschool playspace, Before, 2011. Top and middle tiers. The middle tier of the playground had stairs whose treads and risers were of equal size. This made it  difficult for children of this age group to  ascend/ descend safely. Additionally, the step treads were too small to be used for seating. It was requested that the new design should break up the open space in the tier to provide a series of smaller more intimate spaces.






Preschool playspace, After, 2012. 







Preschool playspace, Before, 2011.  Middle and lower tiers. Educators advised that the fixed cargo/scramble net was rarely use by children and that the series of stepped concrete levels was providing a mobility difficulty for parents with prams and a trip hazard for the children.









Preschool playspace, After, 2012. Middle and lower tiers. In the fore ground is a small segment of the gently graduated Stoneset pathway that now links all levels. In the rear is a series of child dimensioned stairs that can be used for small group work or as ad-hoc seating for performances.








Preschool playspace, Before, 2011. Top and middle tiers. Educators reported that the children had grown bored with the fixed slide and were rolling down the adjacent slope instead.








Preschool playspace, After, 2012. Middle tier.







Preschool playspace, Before, 2011. Top and middle tiers. The sandpit had been built on a slope which caused the sand to flow downwards out of the pit and onto other areas of the play ground. A concrete wall had been build around the outer lower rim of the pit to prevent this. Educators advised that the wall was non-functional and unsightly .




Preschool playspace, After, 2012. Top and middle tiers. The new sand pit is stepped and incorporates equipment boxes that double as seating, raised building platforms and a water channel that bisects the pit, doubles as a tier wall and empties into a dry creek bed watering the sensory plantings.





Preschool playspace, After, 2012. Top and middle tiers. Instead of emerging from a pump the water bubbles up from a sandstone cauldron before emptying into the rill. The water flow is controlled by an educator accessing a nearby tap which is fitted with a vandal proof keyed valve.





Preschool playspace, After, 2012. Top and middle tiers. The sandstone cauldron emptying into the rill.




Preschool playspace, After, 2012. Top and middle tiers. The sandstone rill acts as a terrace within the sand pit, a building platform and a source of water for the children and the vegetation within the creek bed.








Preschool playspace, After, 2012. Top and middle tiers. The sandstone rill.







Preschool playspace, Before, 2011. Middle tier. Prior to redevelopment the area beneath the sandpit was compacted grass, used by the children as an informal pathway to the sandpit. 



Preschool playspace, After,  2012. Middle tier. After  redevelopment the area incorporates a formal stepping stone pathway, a dry creek bed, a mini labyrinth/seating area and sensory plantings.




Preschool playspace, After,  2012. Middle tier. After  redevelopment the area incorporates a formal stepping stone pathway, a dry creek bed, a mini labyrinth/seating area and sensory plantings.






Preschool playspace, After,  2012. Upper tier. A large bamboo teepee seat is ringed with sensory plantings and fragrant climbers which will grow upward and between the poles creating a shaded intimated small group area/storytelling space.

Preschool playspace, Before, 2011. Lower tier.
Educators advised that they wished the area to be redesigned to create a safer, more natural environment that would provide clear supervisory sight lines, utilise “dead” space that had previously been used for retaining or had been nominated by child care regulatory bodies as unusable, and to re-purpose the lower slopes to incorporate play and small group areas.


Preschool playspace, Before, 2011. Lower tier.
Educators advised that they wished the area to be redesigned to create a safer, more natural environment that would provide clear supervisory sight lines, utilise “dead” space that had previously been used for retaining or had been nominated by child care regulatory bodies as unusable, and to re-purpose the lower slopes to incorporate play and small group areas.





Preschool playspace, After,  2012. A new mixed surface bike track.




Preschool playspace, Before, 2011. Lower tier.
“Dead” space that had previously been nominated by child care regulatory bodies as unusable.




Preschool playspace, After,  2012. Lower tier. Prior “dead” space has been re-purposed to incorporate play and small group areas.





Preschool playspace, Before, 2011. Lower tier.
“Dead” space that had previously been used for retaining .




Preschool playspace, After, 2012. Middle and lower tiers. The slope between the middle and lower tiers is now has two separate climbing areas, (ropes and a climbing wall)  a double slide and a tunnel slide.




Preschool playspace, After, 2012. Middle and lower tiers. The slope between the middle and lower tiers is now has two separate climbing areas, (ropes and a climbing wall)  a double slide and a tunnel slide. 



Preschool playspace, After, 2012. Upper and middle tiers. A series of child dimensioned stairs that can be used for small group work or as ad-hoc seating for performances, a climbing wall and an  ascending log stepper causeway.



Preschool playspace, After, 2012.  Upper and middle tiers. A series of child dimensioned stairs that can be used for small group work or as ad-hoc seating for performances, a climbing wall and an  ascending log stepper causeway with sensory plantings.

Tess Michaels