Anderson Park Destination Playground

The development of a play space for all abilities and ages

Boffa Miskell was engaged to give effect to a Master Plan which had been developed in 2015. The Masterplan had been developed following considerable consultation within the local area by Napier City Council personnel. The park is large comprising 36 hectares and has been used for passive recreation for many years. The play space which was developed sits discretely amongst the existing mature trees, respecting its park environment.

The playground is accessible to all ages and abilities. To achieve this we worked with Council officers and a disabilities reference group to understand requirements and designed the playground with pods of similar experiences at different challenge levels. There are high and low activity areas for all ages, structured and non-structured play experiences, with a range of different physical challenges including swinging, sliding, climbing, spinning, balancing and jumping. The play space also includes water play and a range of sensory experiences including enclosure and elevation. There is no isolating play equipment.

There is a balance between a natural play environment and other play possibilities, all in a family environment with wider park play possibilities. Circulation throughout the space was thought through and there is a visual circulation cue on the ground plane.

Boffa Miskell was responsible for the design of the playground, working with NCC and the reference group. To achieve this we worked closely with the different play companies who supplied equipment, our playground safety auditor and Riks Terstappen (the artist) who created features to enhance the playground identity. During the implementation phase an NCC engineer was the ‘engineer to the contract’. We provided technical observation of the implementation of our design, working with the playground safety auditor to the successful completion of the project.

Our role

Design, technical observation, engagement

The facts

Client	Napier City Council
Project team	Sarah Collins Aynsley Cisaria
Worked with	Construction: McNatty Construction Numat Playground auditor – Philippa Bollond Constructive Landscape Solutions Artist – Ricks Terstappen Engineer to the contract – Dreek Newton, Napier City Council Play Equipment: Playground People Playground Centre Playrope Park Life Park Furniture: A E Tilley Walkspace Street Furniture NZ NCC and local architect designed toilet block Videographer – Grundy Productions
Project date	2016 - July 2018
Awards	Highly Commended - Social Well-being \| LGNZ Excellence Award 2019 Outstanding Park \| 2018 NZRA Awards