Officer District Park has gone viral on social media, surpassing visitor expectations to attract thousands to the epic playground on Melbourne’s semi-rural south-eastern fringe.
Landscape architects Papworth Design have created vibrant community parklands for Cardinia Shire Council on the 10-hectare site, including an adventure playground, parkour zone, fitness equipment stations, a scenic lookout, an off-leash dog park, picnic areas, walking paths and a wetland. Future stages are also planned.
The challenge of the steep site has brought a unique experience to the playground and recreation areas, with both toddlers and teenagers eager to climb the large soft fall hill with two 20m-long tubed embankment slides, and families enjoying picnic areas that take advantage of views.
Director of Papworth Design, Brendan Papworth, said the park was incredibly well-received since opening in December 2024, “This was our first experience of a project of ours going ‘viral’ with millions of views on TikTok from around the world soon after the park’s opening. Visitation has been off the charts and the community loves it.”
Council is pleased with how the Linea range by Street Furniture Australia has withstood the high visitation numbers, with more than 5000 people recorded on some summer weekends. Shane McGrath, Team Leader at Cardinia Shire Council, said, “I can’t remember one single incident where we’ve had anything loose or needing to be replaced – they’ve held up well to extreme use.”
Linea Platforms, Settings and Seats are used throughout the picnic and dog parks. Papworth Design chose the range for its simplicity and inclusivity, “Linea has a good selection for all-abilities picnic equipment, which was a consideration of the park,” Brendan said.
The Platform with its optional multifunctional ‘Hill’ has been embraced by the community, who can be seen using it as a back and arm rest, a laptop workspace and picnic table.
The furniture colour palette reflects the overall driving theme of the park derived from Cardinia Shire’s name, from the Kulin word ‘Kar-din-yarr’, meaning ‘look to the rising sun’. “The colour themes of the park were about the graduation of colour as the day progresses, ending with the spectacular views of the sunset to the West,” Brendan added.
Linea’s strong stainless steel frames, which encapsulate the aluminium battens, are powder coated in Pale Eucalypt, Safety Yellow and Woodland Grey. Shane said the materials perform well in the local temperate climate, “The material finish is fantastic. I was concerned that metal battens in direct sunlight would be hot to sit on through the warmer months, but this hasn’t been the case at all.”
The $9.07 million project was jointly funded by the Australian Government, Victorian Government and the Cardinia Shire Council with $2.2 million from the State’s Growing Suburbs Fund.
A TikTok post by melbournewithsiri has more than 2.7M views.
