rsmith.studio

A playground that creates the ski resort experience.

Glacier Park was conceptualized as bringing a mountain snow resort to the playground.

The features are designed to mimic the actions of snow sports – gliding, carving, speed, and height sensations were prioritized.

For those without much snow time, this park is a great way to get more out of winter play without the financial investment required for snow sports.

Research

The research for this project relied on a visit to Landscape Structures, Inc. (a playground manufacturer) and competitive benchmarking. I was specifically instructed to ignore safety regulations for this concept and focus on the experience, so that is exactly what I did.

To accompany that benchmarking, I did some research on play generally.

Unleashing Imagination: The Ultimate Guide to Themed Playgrounds and Creative Play

  • Playground play stimulates recall and memory development.
  • Themed playgrounds offer the opportunity to design a more inclusive space.
  • Loose parts, manipulatable elements, and quiet spaces are all important elements of a playground.

“Unleashing Imagination: The Ultimate Guide to Themed Playgrounds and Creative Play.” MRC Recreation. Accessed April 15, 2025. https://mrcrec.com/themed-playground-guide.

Play, Theories of Play and Self-Determination: an Integrated Perspective on Playgrounds

  • Competition, gambling, role-playing, and sensory stimulation drive play.
  • Different types of play (social, constructive, rule-based, etc) are beneficial in different ways.
  • Designing for autonomy is one way to promote decision-making in playground design.

Sağocak, G. & Demirbaş, G. U. (2024). Play, Theories of Play, and Self-Determination: An Integrated Perspective on Playgrounds, Işık JADA: Işık University Journal of Art, Design and Architecture, 2(1), 30-49.

Our Philosophy of Play[grounds]

  • Some kids like to take risks and run – others like to watch.
  • Incorporating references to site history can enhance the sense of place.
  • Different access routes to features promote accessible and inclusive play.

“Play Theory.” Earthscape Play, May 17, 2022. https://www.earthscapeplay.com/play-theory/.

These ideas informed my ideation, which all focus on a transformative experience of place.

Ideation

The top five ideation sketches are shown above: mountain, trees, urban, lift, and glacier. Several are winter-themed. All of these experiences draw from their inspiration. Glacier features translucent panels where kids can hide inside the ice, and a bridge connecting two chunks. Trees is designed to replicate a mountain snowpark-style tree run, with high-speed slides that mimic sliding along a tight, wooded path.

Urban is a novel concept featuring a park that combines a wind tunnel, snowboarding, trampolines, and a shelter. Much like the real urban environment, it is potentially hazardous yet ripe with opportunity. Lift and Mountain are similar. Lift focuses the play on a structure mimicking an oversized chairlift station, while Mountain is more of a souped-up bunny hill with a nice spot for parents to watch.

To move forward, I formally selected Glacier, but the final park really references all of the winter ideas.

Design

Since I had a lot to work with from the first round of sketching, I moved straight to CAD in Fusion. I created a slide segment from Trees first, and then developed a couple of other features:

The lift swing features a chairlift seat that doubles as a swing. The adjustable pivot at the top of the swing allows for use when facing any direction. A wraparound window protects the space from the elements and provides a central enclosure for social functions. All silver-and-blue is intended to be powder-coated steel.

The surface variation of the glacier is intended to loosely mimic moguls. With a range of variation, the glacier can be traversed upwards or downwards to access other park features.

The glacier form serves to anchor the scene in the Arctic. Additionally, the wedge shape allows a relaxed step ladder to flank the center for easy side access.

The lift swing and glacier moguls serve as modular components, paired with a zipline unit (shown with a clear center section) and the tree slides, to create a range of possible playgrounds.

Reflection

The playground, which I have dubbed “Glacier Park,” was an exercise in modularity and designing for fun. Looking into the systems of play deepened my understanding of interaction across domains, and applying a product lens to the design of an environment was helpful. Revisiting this project, I would like to spend as much time with each feature as I did with the entire project. The concepts are there, but each could use a full personality with interior details.