Storey Park Community Centre NSW, Australia (2020)

The outdoor space for the newly built Storey Park Community Centre is designed by Xeriscapes to be a new adventure play space for all ages – including a skywalk, discovery garden and featuring some inclusive play elements.

Passive recreation areas include picnic and barbecue facilities, shade structures,Park DDA Seats, and Park DDA Table and Bench Settings.

Geoff Olson, Landscape Architect with Xeriscapes, says the new playground and community centre is “an important local asset, given the recent population growth associated with new high density residential apartment living in the area.”

The new playground is “well-utilised by all ages” on weekends, he says.

Aluminium woodgrain battens were selected for the furniture as a compromise between Council’s preference for low maintenance materials, and the warm, natural look of timber favoured by designers.

“We were pleased with the aesthetic of these battens, and how the hollow extrusion aluminium battens dissipated the heat as we were initially concerned with the seats getting too hot in summer,” says Geoff.

For further discussion of temperature, and which furniture materials get hottest in summer, see our Seat Batten Guide and Goldilocks Report.

The aluminium woodgrain Spotted Gum battens were paired with satin Monument frames across the furniture suite selected for the park.

In addition to the Park DDA Seats and Settings, Key Hoop Bicycle Parking encourages active transport to and from the community centre.

A mix of subsurface-fixed and removable Wide Bollards – also powdercoated in Monument – provide screening for pedestrians from the carpark.

The installation was delivered by Momentum Built.