Believing that an early appreciation for ecological diversity fosters environmental consciousness in adulthood, the PlayScape is a new play area designed to promote ecological literacy in children. Each of the PlayScape’s five zones is designed around a unique typology, combining custom play structures with plantings and programming to teach children about daily life in a briny marshland, or the hardy plant communities of a rocky bluff. Interwoven with the ecological story is a second narrative about the realities of climate change and the necessities of environmental stewardship. Impermeable paving visibly directs surface runoff to verdant raingardens crisscrossed by foot bridges, integrating environmental management practices into the very heart of the play experience. The PlayScape began construction in Winter 2020.

Images by: Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners and BKSK Architects