Forest Lawn Natural Park
Client
Parks Foundation, Calgary + Antyx Community Arts
Date
Completed in 2016
location
Calgary, AB
market
Park/Playground
- 818 led the design team, coordinating with community groups, the City of Calgary, permaculture consultants, and a public artist
- park is a two-acre parcel in neighbourhood of Forest Lawn
- focus was a new playground with natural elements like boulders, logs, hills, and wood materials to encourage active, unstructured play, and as well as interaction with ecology at all ages
- extensive community engagement at the outset through multiple sessions over several years, which directly led to key design decisions that responded to the community’s needs
- main elements include a natural playground, basketball court, hillslide, bioswale with wooden boardwalk, rope bridge, and new plantings
- project fostered community ownership, including resident maintenance of a food forest
- according to the observations of a research team both pre and post-revitalization, park use increased by 216%, with significant youth engagement