Kindergarten project impresses landscape architecture students

When planning a summer school course, ‘Designing Children’s Environments’, Sue Wake, Senior Lecturer at Unitec’s Department of Landscape Architecture, contacted Boffa Miskell to find an example of a well-designed children’s environment for her students to visit.

We suggested the recently upgraded outdoor area at Sturges Road Kindergarten, the latest in a series of similar projects that Boffa Miskell has undertaken for the Auckland Kindergarten Association. Landscape architects, Sarah Collins and Larissa Moyle, who specialise in designing environments for education, have been working with the association for a number of years to upgrade kindergarten outdoor areas. The association’s property team and kindergarten head teacher, Maureen Anderson, were pleased to show the Sturges Road example to the group of over 25 students and lecturers who visited in December.

Maureen said they could barely believe the difference between the old and renewed outdoor area, which she described as “a wonderful free-flowing area.”

“The response of the community, as well as the children, has been wonderful. The site has a great natural feel with a large number of small, special areas which the children love to explore, play and learn in.”

The Waitakere Ranges provide a backdrop seen over nearby houses and Maureen says the outdoor spaces have been designed to develop a sense of place by reflecting the local environment.

The summer school students summed up their reaction to the kindergarten when a group of them said, “We liked the preschool we saw earlier in the day. It was very appealing. It flows well, is robust and all the opportunities for natural play are provided within this playground”.