Buttenshaw Youth Park

Place Design Group undertook the redevelopment of Buttenshaw Park in collaboration with the Blue Mountains City Council. The project aimed to create an inclusive ‘recreation hub’ that benefits the youth residing within the Blue Mountains community.

Buttenshaw Park, located in Springwood, NSW, is a major district park within the Blue Mountains City Council LGA. Place Design Group delivered the masterplan and principal landscape architectural consultancy services for the design and documentation of the inclusive, youth-focused play project.

The Blue Mountains City Council deemed the project a significant opportunity to create a youth-focused ‘recreation hub’ for the area. A significant design approach was the ‘youth led’ community engagement process, that sought to understand how the young members of the community were utilising the park and importantly, how it could meet their recreational needs into the future.

Our primary objective was to design a safe, inclusive community hub, offering children and young adults a high-energy, engaging and high-quality environment, promoting challenging active play whilst enhancing the overall park experience for all visitors.

Integration of the site’s unique topography with accessible play nodes and implementing environmentally sustainable design solutions was paramount. Additionally, the project sought to complement and connect to the surrounding aquatic centre.

Key elements of the design included:

• Custom climbing / bouldering walls
• Terraced play pools
• A unique, customized climbing and hangout structure out of an existing steep sloping park
• New shelters, seating, water points, bike racks
• Sympathetic landscaping
• Renewed footpaths linking play spaces and the wider park
• Adventure equipment (double flying fox and group swing) and gravity play elements

Image and video credit: Charlie Baker, Baker Media