St Rita’s College

Clayfield, Queensland

We were thrilled when we received an email from St Rita’s College, Clayfield who had recently opened the school to years 5 and 6.  St Rita’s College is a modern school with a rich tradition in academic and sporting excellence.  We knew that this design had to be aesthetically inviting but importantly it needed to be challenging for tween women of action.

The biggest challenge was where to locate the new playground. The college has a beautiful oval that they wanted to keep open, and asked whether it would be possible to place the playground near the pool shed.  Our concern was that there would not be enough space to ensure that we met the required impact areas.  Our designer went to work and was able to design a playground that incorporated the brick wall and using perspex windows to ensure that the sides were enclosed.  To promote social interaction we included a nature pod and some buddy seating under the fort.

We knew that this age group are very active and included a complete rope course to promote upper body and core strength.

A large log climb leads to the top of a 2100 high deck with a net bridge connecting both forts. 

The whole playground is covered by large shade cloths and the artificial grass and sandstone blocks help blend this new little gem into the rest of the college.

A special shout out to Amira, Charlie, Ollie and Harrison for volunteering to test out the playground and giving us some great feedback which we incorporated prior to hand over.