Wilson Park

Norman Park, Queensland

We were excited when we read the brief from Brisbane City Council about looking for someone to design and construct a new playground in Wilson Park.  Before starting the design we set out to learn a little more about the community around the Park.

We learned that Wilson Park is within an area of Norman Park fondly called Poet’s Corner among the locals.  They say that back in the 1800’s a poet lived in a cottage on the corner of what is now Thackeray Street and Wordsworth Street.  The local people were very fond of the poet and his poems and at some point, people started to use Poet’s Corner as a description for the area, naming the surrounding streets after other beloved poets.

We decided to use this story as the theme of the new playground, using nursery rhymes and poems written by the famous poets whose names are the names of the surrounding streets.  We named the play unit ‘Poet’s Corner Tree House’, and added lots of play panels and artwork to add on to the theme.