Town Basin Playground

Location

Whangarei, New Zealand

Market

Councils & Developers | Landscape Architects

Play Priorities

Testimony to Playground Centre’s design nous and creativity, the Town Basin playground combines wow factor and meaning to provide the citizens of Whangarei with a play space that’s positively overflowing with play value.

The eye-catching centrepiece in the Whangarei District Council’s Town Basin Park development, which links Whangarei’s waterfront and the city’s centre via the Huarahi o te Whai Hatea Loop Walkway, the playground has a ‘time and tide’ theme.

The theme, chosen to reflect the cultural and historical significance of the space, references one of the city’s main attractions, Claphams Clock Museum, and traditional methods of time keeping using the natural elements and rhythms.

Playground Centre was thrilled to be a part of every step of the journey involved in bringing this theme and this play space to life, working hand-in-hand with the Council and infrastructure and environment specialists, OPUS.

Fun Solution

A destination playground in every sense of the word, Town Basin has been thoughtfully and imaginatively designed as an inclusive play space, where locals and visitors of all ages, stages and abilities have an abundance of play options.

The playground features a number of inter-connected play zones, each with an array of benefits-rich, custom-built play structures with play elements that relate to the time and tide theme.

The climbing tower, specially constructed for the project, distinctly references time keeping mechanisms. The structure has an hourglass-shaped net element, side barriers of coloured battens to represent the ebb and flow of a tidal graph and sitting atop the tower, spherical sculptures that show the phases of the moon. At the tower’s base, the maramataka – the Maori lunar calendar which guides the days that are best for fishing, gardening, harvesting or resting – has been illustrated on the softfall surface.

The spiral structure of the Titan Xtreme Hoop Course is like the tide, forming ridges of sand and depositing debris from the sea. The structures are fitted with an assortment of play equipment including a variety of climbing nets and interconnecting bridges, to inspire a sense of adventure.

These two unique and striking features of the Town Basin playground are complemented by a number of products from Playground Centre’s range of inclusive play equipment including an Inclusive Carousel, musical instruments and customised multi-bay Urban Swing with basket swing and expression swing.

Every detail of this playground makes it a place for fun, wonder, learning and connection!