Te Pua Keith Park – Nau mai, Haere mai Let’s Play Together

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Cover image: Snake and Ladders, art work by Digby Webster and Nadia Odlum in Sydney. Picture by Alex Kess.
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Published: Jun 26, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.32891/jps.v7i2.1517
Keywords:
universal design playground co-design participation communication

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Elise Copeland
Auckland Council
Jennice Stringer
Auckland Council
Vivian Naylor
CCS Disability Action
Sue Rim Lee
Auckland Council

Abstract

Te Pua/Keith Park playground employed an innovative early program of co-design with an All Abilities Project Group (AAPG), representing disability organisations and key stakeholders from the community. Through ongoing engagement with disabled people as experts, the outcome was an inclusive and welcoming play space for a diverse range of children, young people and their caregivers.
Play equipment included a range of vestibular, visual, and auditory pieces as well as a customised 2m high wheelchair accessible play tower for inclusive play experiences. Caregivers were enabled to play with their children through smooth and step-free surfaces as well as specific play equipment such as an adult and child swing. Children and young people of different ages and abilities were encouraged to sit/lie/stand in the basket swing and see-saw together. Unique to this playground, communication boards were innovatively and collaboratively designed with visual images representing various features of the playground and QR codes linking to online videos with New Zealand Sign Language.
In addition to play equipment, the AAPG identified that the toilet facilities were crucial to ensuring accessibility to many families, including those with bigger children or teens with access needs who were often faced with the reality of needing to be changed in unsanitary and unsafe ways without the appropriate facilities being available. Keith Park worked with a leading toilet manufacturer to co-design a bespoke double toilet block with enhanced accessibility features including an adult-sized change table.
Every aspect of the park was carefully selected and designed including fencing, furniture, plants and colours. Colour enhanced accessibility by guiding children with low vision and created a play circuit to assist the neurodiverse community. The resultant playground is one that welcomes all to play, which is a core tenet of child development, socialisation and participation.


 


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How to Cite
Copeland, E., Stringer, J., Naylor, V. and Rim Lee, S. (2022) “Te Pua Keith Park – Nau mai, Haere mai Let’s Play Together”, The Journal of Public Space, 7(2), pp. 155–182. doi: 10.32891/jps.v7i2.1517.
Issue
Vol. 7 No. 2 (2022): Universally Accessible Public Spaces for All
Section
Non Academic / Case study

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Author Biographies

Elise Copeland, Auckland Council

Elise Copeland is Principal Specialist Universal Design at Auckland Council in New Zealanda. She provides  specialist advice and education in Universal Design across Auckland Council and Council Controlled Organisations. She is part of the Council Projects Design Review Panel, working on major public realm and transport upgrades across the Auckland Region. She is leading the Universal Design Forum and and she serves as Deputy Lead Officer for Council’s Disability Advisory Panel. Member of Auckland Transport’s Capital Project Accessibility Group and Public Transport Accessibility Group. She writes and curates content for the Universal Design Hub of the Auckland Design Manual. She has taught at the Auckland University of Technology across the undergraduate occupational therapy programme including Enabling Systems Change and Promoting Occupational Justice and Participation.

Jennice Stringer, Auckland Council

Project Manager of Te Pua Keith Park Playground.

Vivian Naylor, CCS Disability Action

Barrier Free Advisor & Educator at CCS Disability Action, Auckland, New Zealand.

Sue Rim Lee, Auckland Council

A motivated and adaptable graduate with a Masters of Architecture and Urban Planning degree with a particular interest in the resilience of the built environment. This gave me an opportunity to work with the universal design team at Auckland Council, who are passionate in creating a built environment for everyone to avoid reconstruction and obsoletion. It aligned closely with my interests and assisting with the article has been a great learning experience for me.

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