Hagaskolan - case study of newly built school
How do you design a playground for a newly built school?
The 3000-m2 new primary school Hagaskolan in Vallentuna consists of four detached school blocks located in the heart of the forest. The blocks were designed by Ceder-valls Arkitekter, who decided they should be built in the beautiful, classic, yellow bricks.
The school is a new municipal F-9 school ( which takes children from kindergarten to school) with room for eight hundred pupils.
Together with Generation-Pep, the school has put a separate focus on encouraging children to move.
The playground’s design was determined by the user group, the architectural line and the location in the heart of the forest.
Slightly transparent alloy play equipment in the form of a parkour facility with walls of concrete was added for the teenagers. The facility is surrounded by simple balance stumps dyed in olive green RAL 6025. These were placed at different altitudes, and can be used both as outdoor furniture and an obstacle course.
Three yellow playhouses were built for the nursery and foundation years. The playhouses come from our Olivia series, designed for nature playgrounds and similar areas, where the simple and stylish design plays beautifully with the school buildings.
What play equipment is suitable for children in the older years?
We want to offer children in the older years an opportunity for natural physical development, and this is where parkour is a great option. The child can move freely and explore and discover what their body can do. With breakneck speed and creativity, the children whizz over, under and through the different obstacles. A degree of competition soon emerges, and children get to know their own boundaries.
Parkour is so popular that on YouTube you will find over 110,000 videos with tips and tricks, etc. on how to do it. From a cultural perspective, this way if training your body is very current. And where better to start than in the school playground?
Why are playhouses particularly good for kids in the school playground?
A good playground usually contains many different types of play equipment, but one item is a must - the playhouse. The playhouse encourages fun, imaginative play in nurseries and foundation years. We all have memories of playing in a sandpit when we were younger, and these are memories that stay with us.
The playhouse is a great place to play with friends and shelter from the rain. And children can feel and learn how the sand moves through their small hands - and how it clumps together when it gets wet.
Role play such as playing shops or families sparks the imagination. Children find their own role in the game and develop socially. If the child is the shopkeeper, they must decide what they’re going to sell.
Want to learn more?
Kontakt
sba@elverdal.de
Location
Lingsbergsvägen 14
SE 186 46 Vallentuna
Project year
2018
Project no.
3979
