Places to Play.
It is essential for people of all ages to find moments of escape; to let loose, laugh, play, and - well -
just have fun. Landscape Forms provides a variety of tools and inspiration to create these momentary,
yet impactful opportunities for renewal in outdoor spaces from public parks to private resorts.
Recreation should be an integral part of life. However, hectic timelines in today's ever-connected world
often keep people from fully disengaging from daily concerns to fully engage in life.
A significant opportunity exists to transform underutilized outdoor space into destinations and experiences
that breathe new life into individuals, families, and communities.
In the
Community
Parks invite joy into cities. Playgrounds, softball fields, and uninhibited open areas that rouse impromptu
games of tag, hide-and-go-seek and pickup soccer games inspire fun and playfulness. Whether watching
or actively participating, people of all ages can enjoy and share in the excitement of play. Parks
also drive behavior within cities, influencing how people interact. The prominence, frequency, and
layout of these spaces have a great effect on where and how often recreation happens. This shapes
the cultures of neighborhoods and can even affect individual choices to live in one area over another.
By activating idle outdoor public areas to invite retreat from daily life, city planners can inspire
remarkable city cultures that, in turn, enhance the value of surrounding areas.
On
Vacation
Vacations offer a chance to depart from daily life, refresh, see the world, and enjoy time with family.
Key to the success of a resort is providing a fun, enjoyable, and rejuvenating experience that makes
guests want to return. By intertwining nature throughout the property: poolside, fireside, waterside,
adjacent buildings, and in open areas, resort owners can create a fulfilling and immersive adventure
for guests that optimizes the resort's rejuvenating effects.
Goals
Enrich the Spirit.
Encourage Play
Create stages that encourage laughing, dancing, singing and exploring.
Nurture Engagement
Nurture engagement for individuals, small groups and large groups by providing an array of outdoor
settings that prompt physical, thoughtful, and social interactions.
Enhance City Harmony
Enhance city harmony by providing combined parks and landscapes that provide active space and places
for respite, and connect city inhabitants and visitors.
Establish a Sense of Security
Establish a sense of security by creating safe environments for people and their belongings. This
releases the mind to experience the full effects of the outdoors.
Make Memorable Experiences
Make memorable experiences by fully engaging multiple human senses with physical elements.
At Landscape Forms, we believe that nothing enriches the spirit quite as profoundly as the simple
act of play. By creating a variety of frameworks that encourage laughter, social interaction,
physical activity, and retreat; public and private entities can intertwine soul enriching activities
throughout their outdoor landscapes. Landscape Forms has created a series of application thought
starters incorporating our portfolio of site furnishing, architectural, technology, and lighting
elements that do just that. These applications contribute to the design of the outdoor recreational
environment by leveraging these strategies to encourage fun, laughter, activity, and connections
with nature, city planners, hospitality managers, and landscape architects can make a significant
contribution to the quality of life.
Thought Starters
Be inspired. Browse our application thought starters as you explore innovative, meaningful, and solutions
based approaches to activating outdoor environments. Let our ideas spark your imagination to create
uniquely empowering, engaging, and rejuvenating experiences outside.
Application
Public Space - SPP
Place
Splash Pad
A splash pad is a water feature designed as a destination to promote active play among children with
integral seating for family and caregivers.
Primary Insight
Encourage Play
Outdoor play environments can create stages for laughing, giggling, jumping, dancing, singing and
exploring; activities that are essential to childhood development.
Elements, Attributes, and User Experience
- The radial design of the splash pad invites easy access from any direction, encouraging children
to laugh, jump, dance, play, and explore.
- In addition to providing a stage for children to play, water jets and embedded lighting combine
to create a central and aesthetically pleasing focal point for the park.
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Silla chairs are arrayed radially in an inner ring to create a comfortable place
for family members to sit together while remaining focused on small children. Children
feel safe to explore and play because of the nearby proximity of parents and caregivers.
- An outer ring of
Mingle seating and
Shade umbrellas create comfortable shaded gathering areas near the water feature
for picnics and breaks from the sun, and can also provide a shaded resting place for
parents and caregivers of older children.
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Signal pedestrian lighting provides safe effective lighting for evening play.
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Loop bike racks are conveniently placed at several points along the perimeter. This
increases accessibility of space and invites a broader audience by encouraging alternative
transit options and providing secure bike storage.
-
Austin litters provide attractive options to conceal and recycle waste.
- Surrounding landscaping softens hard surface elements in a natural setting.
Application
Public Space - SKP
Place
Skate Park
A skate park is a recreational area designed to support both skateboarders and spectators of the
sport.
Primary Insight
Nurture Engagement
An array of outdoor settings and postures provides opportunities for individuals, small groups, and
large groups to engage in physical, thoughtful, and social interactions.
Elements, Attributes, and User Experience
- Viewing zones are positioned safely away from skateboarding surfaces to provide convenient
and comfortable areas for the skateboarders and spectators to socialize.
- Custom trellises designate a semi-shaded area along one edge of the park inviting spectators
to view skating activities and events.
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Jessie rails and
Connect rails provide a temporary resting place and accomodate personal items while
viewing skating activities or socializing with others.
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Gus planters with seat inserts offer a convenient place for arriving skaters to sit
and prepare themselves and their equipment.
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Twig benches create informal gathering spaces for small groups before, after, and
during skating events to encourage lingering and the development of a sense of community.
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Hi-Glo pedestrian lighting allows for safe 24/7 use of the park.
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Collect litters provide attractive options to conceal and recycle waste.
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Ride bike racks increase accessibility of space and invite a broader audience by
encouraging alternative transit options and providing secure bike storage.
- Landscaped areas at perimeter soften the hard surface composition of the skate park.
Application
Public Space - NP
Place
Neighborhood Park
A neighborhood park is an open public space in a residential area designed as a gathering place for
community events.
Primary Insight
Enhance City Harmony
Providing combined parks and landscapes that offer places for activity and respite connects people
and enhances city harmony.
Elements, Attributes, and User Experience
- Multiple paths for walkers, joggers, and cyclists encourage healthy activity and spur interaction
between neighbors.
- A water feature and climbing wall serve as a focal point in the space while promoting relaxation
and contemplation.
- Furnished areas facilitate communal gatherings for respite, socialization, or dining.
- A large centralized open lawn area offers space to run, play, or picnic. Movies can be projected
on the rear side of climbing walls.
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GO Outdoor Tables with canopies and
Chipman stools add shared spaces for casual or spontaneous get-togethers and opportunities
to re-charge.
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Parc Centre tables and
Parc Centre chairs invite dining and gaming in a relaxing setting near the pond.
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Hi-Glo pedestrian lighting extends safe illumination into the evening hours, but
can be dimmed while movies are projected to minimize glare.
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Lo-Glo path lighting effectively lights pathway without creating glare for movie
viewing.
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Connect Rails near the climbing walls support leaning and resting between climbs.
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Collect litters provide attractive options to conceal and recycle waste.
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Rest benches offer respite along circulation paths and also provide comfort while
viewing climbing activities or movies.
Application
Public Space - FMP
Place
Fitness Micro-Park
A fitness micro-park is a segment of a larger outdoor park or trail system designed to encourage
exercise and provide a place to take a break from physical activities.
Primary Insight
Enhance City Harmony
Providing combined parks and landscapes that offer places for activity and respite connects people
and enhances city harmony.
Elements, Attributes, and User Experience
- A combination of seating areas and exercise stations create a park that encourages both activity
and rest.
-
Austin benches provide safe and secure platforms for isometric and plyometric exercises
as well as a place to rest or socialize between activities.
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Sentinel bollards highlight the micro-park as a destination along the walking path
in the evenings, while a combination of hardscaping and plantscaping help to create a
sense of place.
-
Reeder illuminated sign aids in park wayfinding while also highlighting key instructional
and safety information for exercise stations.
- An overhead tree canopy provides shade from sun to create a more comfortable place to gather.
Application
Residential Space - CC
Place
Community Courtyard
A community courtyard is a private area within an apartment or condominium complex designed for social
and leisure activities.
Primary Insight
Establish a Sense of Security
In order to fully experience mindfulness and the rejuvenating effects of outdoor spaces, people need
to feel a sense of security for themselves and their belongings.
Elements, Attributes, and User Experience
- The privacy created by surrounding walls creates a safe, comfortable, and rejuvenating outdoor
gathering area. This space creates a central hub that fosters a sense of community among
residents.
- Retractable doors link indoor exercise studios and activity rooms to the courtyard offering
a refreshing open air experience to residents and their guests. A long water feature
made from bamboo creates a Zen-like focal point that unifies the courtyard and the adjacent
yoga studio.
-
Parallel 42 benches,
Parc Centre tables and
Chipman chairs create a long array of community seating for residents and their guests
to relax, socialize, and observe other courtyard activity.
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Parallel 42 benches provide convenient places to sit adjacent to a bocce ball court.
Application
Hospitality Space - RV
Place
Resort Villa
A resort villa is a vacation dwelling in a tropical setting designed to offer an immersive, open-air
lifestyle experience for guests.
Primary Insight
Make Memorable Experiences
Truly memorable experiences are created by fully engaging the human senses of touch, smell, sight,
taste, and sound with the physical elements of water, air, earth, and fire.
Elements, Attributes, and User Experience
- The open-air villa is designed to create an immersive lifestyle experience for guests that
fully engages their senses with each of these elements:
- Water: A pool, hot tub, and open-air steam bath adjacent to the ocean invite guests to engage
with beautiful ocean views and other elements of the natural environment.
- Air: Retractable doors allow local breezes to provide morning refreshment and natural cooling
into the evening.
- Earth: Natural vegetation and topography at perimeter areas enhance the connection to nature.
- Fire: An architectural scale fireplace creates a cozy, home-like feel outdoors.
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Cochran chaise lounges,
Cochran side tables, and
TUUCI umbrellas offer shaded poolside comfort while enjoying ocean air.
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Cochran lounge chairs with
Cochran side tables create a generously scaled and comfortable place to gather upon
a central cantilevered deck with refreshing views of the ocean, pool, and natural landscaping.
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Chill seating partially submerged in a shallow pool offers a refreshing place to
lounge on warm afternoons.
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Morrison table and
Chipman Chairs offer an invigorating place for dining al fresco.
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Guide path lighting softly defines the edge of the arrival walkway and welcomes visitors.
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Sorella planters offer a habitat for colorful flowers and create boundaries for the
deck and steam bath areas.