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How we make accessibility . . . child’s play

When the Sunrise Rotary Club decided to take on the design and construction of a $1.5 million boundless playground as a centennial project, GLMV Architecture stepped up to make it a reality.

A boundless playground is one that is entirely barrier free.  It is equally accessible to all children, regardless of age, or physical, cognitive, developmental or sensory disabilities. 

When GLMV took the project on in 2006, the concept was new to the area.  The Sunrise playscape was designed to be 70 percent accessible to disabled children or adults, when other playgrounds in the area met only the minimum requirements of the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) act.

There were challenges in designing a playground that didn’t stigmatize or segregate children based on their physical abilities.  Joseph Steffes, GLMV’s lead architect on the project recalls, “We were committed to making sure that no little kid would be alone off to the side somewhere in a ‘wheelchair area’.”

The solution to the full integration of children of all abilities was achieved with ramps and grade changes that are cleverly disguised.  The ramps are so seamlessly incorporated into the overall design and flow of the play space that their utilitarian purpose is not immediately evident.

The 27,000-square-foot playground features nontraditional playground fixtures that are designed to encourage interactive play.  Learning to design with this unfamiliar equipment required some on-the-job training.  Steffes remembers showing up in a suit and tie to check on the installation of a piece of equipment.  Seconds after climbing aboard, he found himself sprawled flat on his back on the ground.  “At that point,” he recalls, “we realized we needed to be very sure we knew exactly what the equipment was designed to do.”

Today, in addition to the large central interactive area, the playground also features two toddler areas, a sound garden with oversized musical instruments, a sand play area, two swing areas, and a puppet house complete with berm seating.

The playground opened in 2009 and was five years in the making.  Children of all ages and abilities can be found there from sunup to sundown.  “It’s unbelievable just how much use the playground gets,” Steffes observes.

GLMV Architecture and its community partners helped to bring the Sunrise Rotary Club’s vision to life.  Squealing, laughing, inclusive, joyful life.