A new design for school yards in Königsbrunn
For school children at the König-Ludwig and König-Otto schools in Königsbrunn, Germany, drab school yards are a thing of the past. The sport and leisure activity flooring manu-facturer, BSW, based in Bad Berleburg, transformed the boring asphalt surfaces into colourful and animated playing land-scapes. Using Playfix – a seamless impact protection floor covering – the school yards were given an attractive and safe finish in a simple and cost-efficient way. One particular feature is the three-dimensional design of the playground with "play hills" offset with different colours.
“Right from the start, I always had a vision of a hilly landscape", said landscape architect Franz-Josef Eger from the landscaping architecture company BDLA Eger & Partner in Augsburg, about the striking three-dimensional play area. Overall, a total area of 820 m˛ Playfix, the seamless impact protection ground cover from the BSW Company, was laid in both school yards. The target of a workshop project including the architect, mayor, school administration and a team of interested teachers was to include the latest pedagogic findings about leisure-area design suitable for children, in planning of the new school yards. The result this workshop was a specification profile which satisfies the play needs of children of all ages and enables them to have a good romp while also promoting individual play. This idea was received with great acceptance by the town building commission in Königsbrunn so that the project was able to be realised. Playfix was chosen as indispensible impact-protection surface. While visiting a trade fair, Franz-Josef Eger became aware of this floor covering and saw his vision become reality. Sand, bark mulch or similar protective flooring materials were out of the question for an application involving a hilly terrain. In addition, Playfix provides reliable impact protection, as per the standard EN 1177, for the playing equipment integrated into the school yards. The freedom of colour design which is offered by Playfix is also a welcome side-effect as Franz-Josef Eger explained - not only the shape of the hills, but their distinctive colour schemes were appealing to the children and teenagers. The very good cost-benefit ratio of Playfix was also very appealing. As Eger emphasises, the purchase of expensive playing equipment would never have been able to satisfy requirements of a large number of children during the school breaks as effectively as a creatively designed play area. In his opinion - and with regard to use of financial resources to stimulate the economy - more should be done to increase the quality of outdoor playing facilities. The field of playing ground and school yard renovation is enormous and just as needy of financial support as for example, building renovation. Already during the construction phase, Eger was sure that he was on the right track with his design idea for the school yards in Königsbrunn. The building site needed to be continually secured to prevent the school children from romping on the hills before they were even finished. But not only the children and their teachers are pleased, a positive reaction was also received from neighbours. Eger explained the good result as follows "As planners, we must achieve a balance of creative design and fulfilment of requirements. In Königsbrunn we were able to do this perfectly."
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; "Playfix provide the children a protective flooring.") | ; "Playfix is the impact protection surface on the new school yards.") | ; "Distinctive colour schemes give the Playfix hills their unique optic.") |
