Frank Kitts Park Playground | Wellington

The new extended playground remains in close proximity to its current location. The playground proposal presents a series of interconnected crafted play spaces, anchored within a maritime themed landscape setting. Conceptually, the playground elicits a sense of Wellington’s working port heritage and the coastal edge. Collectively timber decks, boat masts, rope play, bells, periscopes, wharf tie-up bollards, abstracted rocky terrain, prominent lighthouse and coastal planting contribute to a maritime character.

Framed and intersected by the playground’s circulation network, play ‘rooms’ for various age groups and activities are interconnected by a series of accessible paths, ‘rocky’ terrain and climbing slopes.

Active, imaginative and cognitive play opportunities are proposed to be integrated into overlapping terraced playground spaces that step up from the harbour’s edge to the west in a safe and stimulating environment. The terrace spaces provide a variety of play experiences some of which is specifically age-related and some of which is designed to integrate a range of age groups. The equipment has been selected to increase and augment the range and diversity of play experiences already available on the waterfront.