Yuecheng Kindergarten's Sky-High Playground: A Blend of History and Innovation

Ecoland's Award-Winning Design Fuses Ancient Heritage with Modern Play

Ecoland's design for the Yuecheng Kindergarten's rooftop playground is a masterclass in landscape planning and garden design. The project was inspired by the concepts of discovery, imagination, and exploration, with the aim of immersing the young children in a variety of outdoor experiences that promote inquiry-focused learning and play. The design also draws inspiration from the openness of traditional courtyards, incorporating three 'Bubbles' that envelope existing ancient trees and provide important connection points between the ground level and the roof play area.

The rooftop playground is a unique feature of the Yuecheng Kindergarten, providing a new outdoor discovery area for the international kindergarten institution. The design encourages early childhood learning and appreciation of nature during play. The landscape architects worked closely with the architects to utilize the contemporary 43,800 square foot roof that is perfectly attuned to top off the newly constructed annex building to the kindergarten, enveloping a historic courtyard on site.

The innovative decision to elevate the play space to the rooftops accomplished the goal of preserving the integrity of the existing historical courtyard building, respecting the memory of the site, while providing children valuable space to play and run freely within the very tight constraints of the site. The use of a dominant and stylized Chinese cloud motif not only act as an interplay between the contemporary building rooftop and the historic building, but it also unites the ancient and ultra-modern design philosophies of the complex.

The project covers a landscape area of about 9,275.14 square meters. The ground floor of the landscape area is mainly paved with gray permeable bricks, and the edges are finished with machine-cut sesame gray granite. The roof area uses edible-grade plastic ground as the paving material. The plastic material is environmentally friendly, and the upper and lower layers are closely adhered, and are not easy to deform and collapse.

The roof area offers different zones for play, a dominant stylized motif unites the entire area as a singular space. The subtly undulating forms are punctuated by color bands that changes color as the landform elevation increase. The colors transform from a rich red at the base level up to a soft cream color on the peaks of the landforms. This approach is not only aesthetically appealing but also functions as a visual learning tool for the children, illustrating in a fundamental way, topography and changes in elevation.

The design of the Yuecheng Kindergarten's rooftop playground has been recognized with a Golden A' Landscape Planning and Garden Design Award in 2021. This prestigious award is granted to marvelous, outstanding, and trendsetting creations that reflect the designer's prodigy and wisdom. They are venerated products and bright ideas that advance art, science, design, and technology, embodying extraordinary excellence and significantly impacting the world with their desirable characteristics.