Turning Concrete into Child’s Play

At Mission Heights Primary School, a concrete yard posed an enduring problem for teachers and children alike. According to Camelia, a new entrant teacher at the school, the previous environment was uninviting and hard on young students. “Our children were struggling to find an area to play, especially our younger children…there were a lot of bruised knees and grazes because of the concrete,” she recalls.

Mission Heights, home to approximately 700 children, recognized the crucial role of outdoor play in childhood development and took the bold step of transforming their grey, concrete landscape into a vibrant, interactive playground.

A Paradigm Shift in Playgrounds

Following a successful upgrade of their existing playground into a natural play area, the school saw an opportunity to extend their revitalization efforts to the concrete yard. This previously overlooked area became the next candidate for an exciting playground transformation. The new playground design aimed to invite exploration and physical activity, promoting healthy play habits among the children. The transformation, accomplished within a week, had an immediate and profound impact.

In Te Awamutu, New Zealand, Saint Patrick’s Catholic School is charting its own path in the realm of children’s play spaces. This isn’t a story about the traditional playgrounds we all know, filled with swings and monkey bars. It’s about a school challenging the norms to create a new narrative for their playgrounds.

When the school’s senior playground fell into disrepair, Principal Shelley Fitness didn’t opt for a like-for-like replacement. She envisioned a different kind of play space – one that emphasized creative play, physical strength development, and appealed to all ages. Creo, with its non-traditional approach, was chosen for the task.

Elm Park School, a diverse community nestled in the heart of Auckland, found themselves facing an all-too-common problem: an outdated, 30-year-old playground. Deputy Principal Dave Walsh, a 26-year veteran of the school, describes the old space: “It was the old-style type of playground with, you know, climbing frames, the old woodchip bark.” The area, shaded by large trees, was also unsuitable for grass growth, which led to a dusty or muddy terrain depending on the weather.

The Promise of Transformation

The school knew they needed a change, and that’s when they found Creo, who specialise in play space design. Principal Sarah Baleicakau explains, “We decided to go with Creo because they were really interested in what made Elm Park unique to us.” Creo promised a design that would incorporate the school’s core values of respect, responsibility, and resilience, turning the space into more than just a playground – it would be a place where these values were nurtured and developed.

One School Global Campus is a brand-new learning environment for children in the academic years of 3 to 13. This new school in Gore serves students from Dunedin all the way through to Invercargill by providing a safe space to learn, grow, and play.  

In 2022, the school teamed up with Creo to design and build a play space for the new school. Together they created a space that was safe, full of activity, could challenge students of all ages, and was diverse and inclusive for their school community. The new play area features swings, play structures, balance play, mounds, and comfortable safety surfacing to cushion all the bumps and falls that are sure to take place in the playground.  

In 2022, the first of the 2-stage project was completed, transforming an empty outdoor space into a fresh and engaging playground.  

Stage 1 of the playspace project at Northland School features a design and installation of a brand-new playground, located beside a new building structure at the school. The area designated for the play space is part of an existing larger asphalt court that the school wanted to turn into a natural-looking playground that was inviting and exciting for their students to use.  

Andersons Bay School is a primary school located in Dunedin. In 2022, the school worked with the design and build team at Creo to create a brand-new play space for its students.  

In the early stages of the project, the school expressed that they wanted a fun new play environment with a natural look that could be both exciting and challenging for students.

Western Heights School is an exciting multicultural school made up of 725 students from over 50 different nationalities. The primary school is located in West Auckland for children from years 1 through 6.

Principal Ash Maindonald has been at the school for a number of years and in 2022 he reached out to Creo in the hopes of transforming the central area of their school into a vibrant space for students.

Project Overview: Creo was appointed with a mission to redefine the outdoor spaces at Orewa College. The task was to transform two busy areas, converting what was once a bleak, concrete-dominated space into a vibrant, welcoming, and safe environment for the students.

Beginning of the Journey: The transformation journey commenced with a tour of the school grounds with Jennifer, the project manager from Fat Parrot. It was clear from the outset that the project demanded more than mere aesthetics – it called for a holistic design-build approach. Thus, Creo embraced the challenge to create an area that was not just visually appealing but also functional, safe, and inclusive.