Officer Central Play Space

Officer Central Play Space

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New Communities

Client
Yourland

Disciplines
Landscape Architecture

Location
Officer, VIC

Date
2024

Imagery
Tract

Located within Stage One of the Officer Central housing development, the Officer Central Play Space sets a new benchmark for community recreation, where planting is play. Offering an immersive Australian native jungle themed environment, the play space evolves with the landscape, becoming a vibrant, welcoming and enduring heart of the Officer community.
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An experimental, fully native planting palette drives the design, with dense panting and dozens of trees scattered through the play space, maturing to create a jungle-like feel. The planting is integral to the immersive play experience, encouraging children to engage with curiosity and imagination.

Every plant has been consciously selected and placed to offer moments of play and discovery, considering seasonality, scent, texture, opportunities for hiding places, boulder paths, flowers for imaginative play, structural planting, and horticultural strength for the site conditions.

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The planting also enhances environmental resilience, providing biodiversity, shade, habitat and cooler microclimates that improve comfort and ecological value.

Anchoring the play space is an impressive custom play tower set atop a sculpted mound that introduces height, vantage points and a sense of adventure. Crafted to resemble silvered hardwood timber, the tower evokes a treehouse rising from the jungle.

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Social connection is at the heart of the project’s community value. The design is guided by a commitment to creating an environment that felt welcoming, engaging and accessible to all ages, abilities and genders.

A centrally located shelter provides shaded seating for families and carers, serving both the main play zone and the adjacent kickabout space. Nearby, a half basketball court with creative linework and natural colours, along with skateable seating elements, ensures older children and teenagers are also meaningfully included.

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The gentle mound, accessible surfaces, varied play elements, and layered planting all work together to allow wheelchair users, prams, older carers, and anyone with mobility limitations to move independently and confidently throughout the play space.

Through integration of planting, accessibility, natural materials and layered play, the Officer Central Play Space offers far more than recreation. It becomes a meaningful, evolving heart of the community.

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