STW0008 - LEUVEN - Play
design: design for a playground and canopy
type: landscape and architecture
designteam: Studio Thomas Willemse in collaboration with no925architecture
stability: UTIL struktuurstudies
time: 2017-...
A new canopy and the remaking of a playground for a kindergarten is essentially a question about how we can relate with the natural elements: sun, rain, wind and sand. Rather than looking for protection from the elements all of these are also instigators to play with for the children. The simple canopy becomes more than just protection for the rain.
The linear canopy descends towards the school where rainwater is collected via a large rainspout into a rainwater basin in the green area of the playground. In this way the recuperation of the rainwater becomes both visible and educational. The water can then be reused later to water the vegetable garden and the trees or for fun and games during a hot summer game.
The canopy creates a link between the separate zones of the playground. The highest point announces the school from a long driveway connecting with the street. This driveway with the bicycle storage becomes a bike track indicated with a colourful play of lines on the asphalt where the children can learn to bike. The canopy itself becomes a place to play linking the bike track with the two other main areas: on the one side the garden with sand (sandbox) and water (rainwater basin) and on the other side an open zone to play freely.