AT PLAY WITH NATURE

This nature-based playspace combines water, timber and stone to give little players an authentic play experience.

Constructed by landscape contractors Harmony Landscapes, the new playground at Immanuel Lutheran College is a fun-filled adventure zone with a natural twist. Featuring timber battens, sandstone blocks, rope nets, timber logs and extensive softscaping, the school’s new playspace is an architectural innovation with a nature-based theme
that helps it to blend into its natural bush surroundings.

Located in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast region, Immanuel Lutheran College is a private school catering to students from kindergarten to secondary school. Offering a plethora of educational opportunities ranging from the arts to the sciences, the school believes in a holistic and diverse academic path. When looking to upgrade their primary school playground, Immanuel College wanted an inspired playscape that matched their curriculum focus.

Undertaking everything from initial site preparation to hardscaping, softscaping and maintenance of the completed landscape, Harmony Landscapes produced a comprehensive playspace that offers everything from sand play to a natural watercourse, play towers and a climbing wall.

A complex job due to the technical and bespoke nature of its design, a high level of planning and logistics were required to complete the project. All construction detailing and methodology was developed in close collaboration between the architect and Harmony Landscapes to ensure the integrity of the build, as well as completing all the inclusive and accessibility aspects of the project to the highest standards.

One of the highlights of the playscape is an automated high-volume natural water course. Consisting of a large capacity in-ground water storage tank, saltwater chlorination, filtration and rain harvesting system, the wet-play area allows students to manipulate and control the water flow and trajectory of the course. An Archimedes screw installation also allows students to draw water from the pond and into a hand-carved stone water maize. Surrounded by oversized boulders of natural sandstone, this splash zone is a safe and sustainable environment in which students can play and learn.

Adding active physical play to the agenda, two large towers with steel frames and timber battens of Australian hardwood were erected to provide plenty of scaling and sliding opportunities. High-end detailing through the use of customised laser panels that carry the school’s emblem mark the main tower, giving it its unique identity. A custom-designed rope tunnel joins the two towers and a series of bridges, scramble nets and balance ropes round out the rope play course.

Placed at the end of one of the towers is a concrete formed climbing wall. Moulded hand and foot pegs dot the wall to provide a climbing surface that leads students up to the tower platform. Hand-shaped natural timber logs, laid vertically and horizontally throughout the playspace, add additional climbing and balancing elements to help students with their gross motor skills. In addition, a freeform scramble wall of manipulated sandstone blocks was constructed opposite the climbing wall, giving users multiple ways of scaling the play towers.

For those that like to dig, an extensive sandpit of fine-grade river sand surrounded by a natural rock border was created on one end of the play zone. To soften the hardscaping, a series of native gardens was planted that provide balance to the overall project. A series of shade trees was integrated for added sun protection, and plenty of native grasses and low shrubs provide a soft barrier for active play.

A winner at this year’s Landscape Queensland Construction Excellence Awards, the Immanuel Lutheran College project impressed the judges with its high level of planning and quality execution. “Working through design challenges and ensuring that safety, accessibility and inclusion issues were considered, the contractor has achieved design intent with their construction resulting in a truly amazing outcome loved by the broader school community,” claimed the judges.

PROJECT PARTICULARS

Client Immanuel Lutheran College

Location Buderim, Queensland

Landscape Contractor Harmony Landscapes