- Partners
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CLIENT: Brown Property Group
LANSCAPE ARCHITECT: MDG Landscape Architecture
ULS Group Pty. Ltd.
- Location
- Melbourne
“Canopy Park has been thoughtfully created to cater to the Canopy Estate community, a space for relaxation and recreation, set amidst a landscape brimming with native flora and fauna.”
Lara Westcott, Associate, MDG Landscape Architects
Under a canopy of green nestles the perfect place to play.
Fun and inclusive, Canopy Park is a destination playground designed with the community in mind. Located in south-east Melbourne’s newest neighbourhood, the park offers endless opportunities for picnics and play amongst unrivalled natural beauty.
The bespoke playground and recreation area fits seamlessly within the landscape, with shaded picnic tables and a state-of-the-art barbecue area – the perfect place to sizzle the snags while the kids build an appetite adventuring.
Collaboration
Integrating the park with nature, and providing the community’s desire for an exciting, exhilarating and relaxing space, was the brief from Brown Property Group, and during the collaboration period with MDG Landscape Architecture, and alongside ULS Group, we maintained a laser-focus on the community’s needs to ensure the delivery of a recreation space for all to enjoy.
Completed in early 2024, Canopy Park is a uniquely designed open space for play and relaxation that has been developed with thoughtful consideration of the natural environment. Existing trees have been integrated into the public space, alongside newly-planted natives to encourage local fauna to the area. Canopy Park weaves the urban with the natural so the community can connect with nature and feel at home.
The playground features bespoke-designed equipment and play pieces that cater to thrill-seekers and adventurers of all ages. Raw timber features mirror the tree-d surrounds, where feathered friends oversee the energy-fuelled fun. Just keep an eye on those snags!
Solution
Canopy Park boasts a creative mix of customised equipment designed and built by Playground Centre, centred around the immersive modular fort. This all-ages play piece features multilingual graphics that says ‘play’ in different languages, encouraging the community to embrace cultural diversity and inclusivity. Adventurers can test their scaling skills on the Hand and Foot Climber, Scaling Wall, Rock wall or climbing up on the Scramble Net to reach the elevated and interconnected play spaces at the top. A fireman’s pole offers a quick descent, or the gentler slide is perfect for those less daring. The double slide also offers dual lanes to zoom side by side with a friend in a race to see who will win. The space underneath the wooden fort is perfect for a game of hide and seek or peek-a-boo or even a quiet space for kids to relax and recharge their energies.
The cohesive layout entices engagement across, through and around the play space’s activity zones, with equipment positioned to enable adventurers to bound from one piece to the next. A custom rope course offers users with a variety of fitness activities to promote both physical and cognitive benefits. It features a Spider Web Net perfect for agility, coordination and balance development while, the Commando Net for upper body strength training. The Ravine Crossing challenges adventurers to cross a simulated ravine using ropes, enhancing balance and problem-solving skills, while the Tightrope Walk/Chin Up stations involves walking across a high wire with only a rope to guide, perfect for improving focus and core stability.
Canopy Park is the perfect play and stay space for the whole community, with easy-access paths for bikes, scooters, skateboards and prams. A skate ramp and basketball court fringe the park where kids and adults alike can test their skills with a ball, or their tricks on wheels. And, when everyone is tuckered out and hunger has set in, the undercover picnic area is the perfect place to refuel, relax and reflect on all the fun.
Nestled within the natural environment, the playground connects adventurers with their surrounds. The beautiful landscape gives natural shade from the mature trees, and the newly planted natives will grow alongside the local children. This community-focused inclusive playground is certain to be enjoyed and embraced by generations to come.
Feeling inspired? Talk to one of our playground design and build specialists today.
