Edited 'codes and guidelines' paragraph & "design process paragraph

While designing this playground, Team 8 referenced and abided to the codes and guidelines of the High Performance Landscape Guidelines/21st Century Parks For New York City for playgrounds. For example, by spacing each element of playground far enough apart, we provide opportunities for free play such as allowing children to run around. We also included a weather station and informational plaques for the vegetation and the telescopes on the pirate ship in order to provide educational opportunities for children. Because our site is located on a natural waterfront setting, we also referenced the Community Investment Collaborative for Kids Resource Guide 4. This document provided us with information on appropriate surfacing material, fall zones, and safety structures. For example, according to guide, the maximum platform height for infants and toddlers should be 24 inches, and for preschoolers, 36 to 48 inches. The resource guide also says that all playgrounds should use surfacing material that is ADA approved, requires little maintenance, and provides good drainage for wet weather conditions. Therefore, our playground is surfaced with Pebble Flex and Aqua Flex, both of which are synthetic materials that are safe to play on, the Aqua Flex also absorbs water. Team 8 used the Public Playground Safety Handbook provided by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to reference proper playground equipment in addition to the International Playground Equipment Manufacturers Association (IPEMA) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM):

Public Playground Safety Handbook Guidelines:

Age Appropriate Equipment:

Toddler — Ages 6-23 months	Preschool — Ages 2-5 years
• Climbing equipment under 32” high • Ramps • Single file step ladders • Slides* • Spiral slides less than 30° • Spring rockers • Stairways • Swings with full bucket seats	• Certain climbers** • Horizontal ladders less than or equal to 0” high for ages and 5 • Merry-go-rounds • Ramps • Rung ladders • Single file step ladders • Slides* • Spiral slides up to 30° • Spring rockers • Stairways • Swings – belt, full bucket seats (2- years) & rotating tire

Code for Platforms: - Platforms should be generally flat (i.e., within ± 2° of horizontal). -Openings in platforms should be provided to allow for drainage. - Platforms should minimize the collection of debris.

    

Stepped Platform Codes (Height In-between steps): - Toddlers: 7 inches. - Preschool-age: 12 inches

Design Process/ What we Learned

Communication was a very beneficial method while designing this project. For example, because we were all teenagers, we were all able to exchange our ideas of what each other’s playground experiences were like and how we could then incorporate these ideas into our playground to make it appealing to young children. We then collaborated with our mentors to find ways to create a playground design and structures that would accentuate a nearby beach area, satisfy all New York State Parks Department guidelines as well as other playground codes, and lastly remain stable amid bad weather conditions. Next, we decided that the best way to initiate our design process would be to pick a theme, so we each designed numerous charettes and then selected our theme based on which ideas were most favored or repeated based on the charrates. We then divided our team into groups including a construction and cost estimate team, who researched all of the playground equipment and materials that we would use, an engineering team that specifically worked on storm mitigation structures, a model building team that worked on a three dimensional model, and a text and layout group who summarized the work of every group. During and inbetween meetings, we also posted information on the 2013 ACE Team 8 blog in order to update ourselves on any sketches, writings, helpful information, or inspirational architectural designs. Challenges that we faced while doing this project were deciding how to elevate our playground high enough to prevent destruction if another hurricane were to happen as well as trying to select a color scheme that would be attractive to little kids, without looking overly flamboyant.