Seneca College ECE Lab School
Project Vision
To establish an inspiring setting for young children to explore, create, and learn; where children of different abilities can invent and direct the focus of their own play through open-ended activities and learn together in age appropriate play.
The master plan combines three separate and distinct play areas into one cohesive outdoor learning environment. The design responds to the layout and structure of the childcare facility creating age specific play areas adjacent to existing indoor spaces while integrating the entire play area with the forest setting of the campus. Finally, the master plan responds to the multi-use function of the lab school providing a resource for student training, research, and continuing education opportunities for community based children’s programs and families.
The master plan also looks beyond the dedicated play area of the childcare centre and considers opportunities for shared use facilities that would provide exceptional supervised play environments for the kids at KOLTS. These shared use facilities provide significant opportunities for learning and recreation for students, staff and visitors to the College and helps to better integrate the childcare centre with its natural surroundings.
Download the KOLTS playground master plan report (8mb PDF document)
LANDSCAPE
PORTFOLIO
Significant Landscape Architects and landscape architecture firms that have dedicated themselves to natural playground design and Schoolyard planning including earthartist. Natural playground designers have created distinctive natural playground and schoolyard designs across North America. Mike Salisbury of earthartist is a Landscape Architect from Guelph Ontario, Canada specializing in Natural playgrounds and outdoor classrooms for K-12 schools, communities, and childcare centres. Natural playgrounds are outdoor learning environments and outdoor classrooms, K-12, schools, community, childcare centres, early childhood education, all encourage gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, creative, social, and fantasy play. Our unique playground designs use natural features and materials to create fun, challenging, and safe natural playgrounds and outdoor classrooms. Natural play environments offer maximum and sustaining play value for far less money than manufactured playgrounds and beautify their surroundings at the same time. Natural playgrounds teach children how to re-connect with the natural environment, and to take pleasure in all that nature has to offer. Natural playgrounds can be considered part of the beautification and/or the green schools program. Living willow structures present a range of options. Our designs meet the guidelines and standards for playground safety established by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and American Standards for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Playground Safety Inspectors ensure that natural playgrounds meet or exceed accessibility standards, provide access by ramp, transfer, and groundcover systems that conform to ASTM and proposed ADA playground accessibility standards.
