Community was at the heart of every aspect of the project.

The vision for a destination playground and the CPlay committee originated from community volunteers.
CPlay engaged mana whenua early, who recommended a representative to CPlay who became a core part of our design team.

Before fundraising, or design, CPlay held over 30 meetings with community representatives. These were blue skies conversations around community needs and wants that informed our design principles. Conversations were with health, youth, education, cultural, sports, arts and heritage, age concern, disability, families, children, tourism, business, service clubs and more. Many relationships continued through our years long project. Some highlights originating from engagement included:

• Mana whenua representative gifting a taniwha design for the playground surfacing.
• Three local iwi approving the replication of rock art imagery in a gathering area (this replication is a first for a free public space in South Canterbury).
• Secondary school children told us playgrounds weren’t challenging. They sought difficulty and competition. This led to a floor is lava obstacle course – an instant hit that bought older children back to playing.
• Child health specialists and families with members with disability talked about inclusiveness – not just doing the minimum, but integrating inclusivity into all design. This led to flat, flush surfacing; numerous inclusive/accessible play items; integrated play so all abilities play together; wheelchair access to a large-scale bespoke item (the shipwreck deck).
• Including AAC Communication signage –  a first for a South Canterbury public space.
• Including art and education, linking school curriculum and local history into play, enabling out of classroom learning.
• Installing a collage of children’s artworks in collaboration with the local art gallery.  

We attended (with displays), events like children’s day and weekend markets. We ran surveys with hundreds of respondents, held radio interviews, hosted fun days and events to celebrate project milestones.

Our volunteers maintained a website which also included local history research that has become a valuable community resource. Our Facebook page is extremely popular with thousands of interactions across the span of our project.

In construction, we used local contractors for landscaping, some play items, painting, seating, shade and more. When the playground opened, we supplied a feedback form enabling the public to share their experiences.  

There is no part of this playground untouched by the community. The community feels a sense of belonging and an ownership of the space.

It was important to know our audience, so we could wear their shoes and make sure the playground was what they needed and wanted. 

By working with a wide group of people, we could pull together a wide range of problems and solutions to consider for the playgrounds brief. It was important to be open to the development of ideas rather than too rigid in our preconceived ideas. Getting the community on board was a lot of work for our team, but was really easy with our community because the agenda was unanimous, we wanted to created something helpful for our kids. We couldn't have created what we have, if we hadn't had a big team effort. We reached out to experts who saw issues day to day with the people they worked with, like parents, child physiologists, educators, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, doctors, Timaru District Council facility managers and staff of the parks department, property managers, gallery, library, museum staff etc... We also listened to those who have the lived experience to understand what their barriers to play were, and what they needed to be able to participate, and to elevate their play. There were small details that could make a big difference that we strived to incorporate into the playgrounds design so it was fun, accessible, challenging and meaningful.

Ways we were able to listen to inform the brief

Volunteers shared concept plans with the community at public events and meetings to refine the themes, and define the needs and wants of the people who would use and benefit from the new play space. A representative from mana whenua Arowhenua the marae of the area joined the volunteer team to ensure meaningful culture inclusion and story sharing. Bringing the community on the journey from the start ensured that the brief was formed by what they wanted and needed from the outset. 

We held many meetings, guest spoke to clubs and societies, visited schools, talked to as many people as we could to understand who our playground visitors would be and be able to wear their shoes when making decisions.

By involving the community in the planning and decision-making process, we helped to foster a sense of ownership, unity, and shared vision for the project, resulting in a playground that truly reflected the values and preferences of the people it created to serve. And making the space achieve our cornerstone goals; fun, accessible, challenging and meaningful.

"When designing for community facilities, cultural identity is key element to informing the design aesthetic. It allows for functionality to marry with cultural expression that can result in a richness in the experience of the spaces that is often absent in a ‘cut and paste’ approach of a style. I believe the CPlay design team have achieved that richness. The introduction of the design team almost sounds like a start of a joke – “what do you get when you mix an Engineer, an Artist, a Scientist and an Architect?” But the answer isn’t the expected “unbuildable expensive eyesore” - but a playground that not only acts as a play spaces that tell the story of the people of our region. The story of the formation of the land is expressed through the lava floor in the Parkour area. Pakeha history is told through the ship wreck and lighthouse play equipment along with the story of the Rocket Brigade through the flying fox. The junior area of the playground encompasses the iki tuna eel area and the ‘Whare’ play structure which highlights the importance of the area to the local Maori for gathering kai in the past. The Whare structure was inspired by the pole structures often associated with Pataka food houses. The crawl tunnels and climbing net evoke the Kinaki eel traps. Over the swale the eel balance beams and Mokihi canoe inspired sea-saw." - CPlay Volunteer John Rushton (Architect)

We aimed to create a sense of belonging and solidarity among community members by promoting inclusivity, celebrating diversity.

We got out and made sure we could connect to people at community events.

Read more: How we engaged and consulted and celebrated with the community