Glenthorne National Park – Ityamaiitpinna Yarta Nature Playground

The Nature Play Precinct faced the challenge of transforming a site with a rich history of farming, scientific research, and WW1 warhorse training into a space that met the community’s aspirations and the client’s vision. The goal was to recognise and integrate the area’s diverse cultural, historical, and environmental landscape in an integrated and consolidated way. TCL’s response was to craft a bold, bespoke site-responsive design that celebrated the use of local and natural materials, honouring the site’s past but also creating a cohesive, engaging and playful natural environment.

The design solution for the Nature Play Precinct creatively engages with the site’s natural features, inviting visitors to interact with the restored creek line. Children and adults are encouraged to climb rocky outcrops, dig for hidden objects in billabong sand pits, and explore accessible pathways seamlessly integrated into the varied topography. Key play elements, such as slides, tunnels, and the adventurous rusted steel ’Tree Tower,’ emerge from rock formations and twisted tree branches. The project exceeded expectations by providing equitable access, using recycled materials, and incorporating immersive soundscapes, creating a space that fosters engagement, learning, and well-being.

The Nature Play Precinct has successfully delivered one of South Australia’s largest site-specific wheelchair-accessible nature playgrounds in Southern Adelaide. It has attracted significant visitor numbers, boosting local eco-tourism and economic activity within the region. It has been instantly popular, with over 10,000 people visiting the first week, and has remained consistently busy. Environmentally, the project sensitively responds to the local heritage character, enhances existing vegetation with ongoing revegetation programs, and improves water quality in the stormwater catchment, promoting sustainability and biodiversity. Kaurna voices and histories were embedded within a highly integrated design process, exemplified by the Kuri Kurru sculptures.

A multi-disciplinary team consisting of : TCL - Landscape Architecture PPA – Architecture PT Design – Structural & Civil Climbing Tree – Contractor Karl & Tikana Telfer - KURI KURRU Cultural collaborator The playground features over 25 play elements spread over 7,000 sqm of natural terrain. Significant features of the playground include; •The rocky escarpment - A series of seamlessly integrated rock objects for climbing and jumping include tunnels, small, medium, and high slides that emerge from the rock formations and twisted tree branches, forming a tall and adventurous ’Tree Tower’. •A sandy creek bed meanders with open-ended play and self-led adventure. Here, children can use fallen twisted tree branches to construct cubbies, traverse challenging creek crossings, discover ’found’ objects in the billabong, and have an opportunity to get muddy! •Kuri Kurru—a sculptural element with six figures—appears to Walk on Country in conversation with the creek bed, creating an over-scaled climbable maze and insight into Indigenous culture. •A copse of mature olive trees creates an ideal area for free play. Loose branches, sticks, and brushes lay ready for structures to be made. •Entry via a stand of majestic remnant gum trees provides a calm, welcoming presence, while underneath, intriguing gum nut-sound cubbies allow for self-directed interaction, refuge, and observation.