active play
Skyline Plaza, Frankfurt
in Paris, a flight of stairs rises up from the ground floor across the long sections on the north and south side of the car park up to the roof. The red handrail of the stairs continues onto the roof and is integrated like a red thread in the various play structures serving as a key element in the swings, benches and monkey bars. It finally leads visitors to the highlight of the rooftop playground: a rope climber with a helical net standing almost 8m tall. The scheme’s various rails, ropes,
trampolines and mounds are used for play as well as fitness training making the rooftop a popular place for children and adults alike.
Construction challenges There are specific challenges when creating urban spaces and play areas on rooftops. Like any play area, safety is paramount, but in rooftop spaces the safety process starts before construction with risk assessments, plans for site safety management and various construction certificates required. The equipment generally needs to be lifted
onto site with cranes, so lifting plans, packaging and product design requirements must also be defined in the early stages of the project. The play equipment and the play area has
to conform to the relevant European standards, and building on high rise buildings means extra demands on the stability of the products as well as construction requirements. The challenge is to integrate safety in an attractive and unobtrusive way, which can be achieved
Caxton Works, a 2.2 acre mixed-use redevelopment in Canning Town, London
with well-designed routing and landscaping. Utilising the existing roof structure as a solid
foundation without compromising its waterproof and drainage properties is another challenge. For example, 16 substantial anchors were required to secure the 8m high pyramid structure at Lüders Park ‘n’ Play. And laying deep cement foundations was not feasible at Skyline Gardens, so Berliner created shallow foundations into which Cosmo was anchored with directly attached base plates. At the same time, space to hide any
structural and foundation elements is often limited, which may mean adapting the equipment for rooftop projects. Play designers are increasingly working on
rooftop play schemes. Each project requires a bespoke solution determined by the building methods employed, the materials used and the type of play equipment selected. Yet however challenging rooftop constructions may be, these former no-go areas for the public now offer great recreational opportunities for our growing cities.
www.berliner-
seilfabrik.com/en/ www.ja-ja.dk www.lizlake.com www.russell-play.com
Lüders Park ‘n’ Play in the Nordhavn district of Copenhagen
pactfacilities.co.uk 37
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