Fernhill Park Play Village.
Community driven placemaking where play, learning and public space come together.
Client: Friends of Fernhill Park / Kaboom! / Philadelphia Parks & Recreaction
Industry: Public Spaces & Government
Services: Community Engagement, Placemaking, Product & Service Design, Experiential and Visual Design, Sourcing and Manufacturing
Design Brief.
FutureTogether was engaged to transform an underused area of Fernhill Park into a vibrant play and learning destination shaped by the community. Working with Friends of Fernhill Park, KABOOM!, Playful Learning Landscapes and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, we led a process from listening sessions and creative workshops through concept development and community feedback, translating local ideas into playful, durable public infrastructure. FutureTogether then shepherded the project through design development, engineering, operational requirements, L&I and Philadelphia Art Commission approvals, fabrication and installation, weaving the needs of multiple constituencies into a cohesive place distinctly connected to Fernhill.
Outcome.
The Fernhill Park Play Village transforms an existing green space into a colorful landscape for play, learning and intergenerational connection. A family of original sculptural interventions blends public art, landscape and play: the Nature Stage supports performance and gathering, Abacus and tactile elements encourage math and sensory exploration, and Story Hills inspire movement, storytelling and emotional expression. The Riverbed Crossing brings nature play into the experience through stories about water and a matching game featuring leaves found in Fernhill Park. Each element embeds learning without prescribing how to play, creating an open ended environment for children and families to continually discover and reinterpret.
Social Impact.
Fernhill defines how public space can become part of a child’s learning environment without making a park feel like a classroom. Working with Playful Learning Landscapes, opportunities for counting, literacy, storytelling, sensory exploration, movement, collaboration and emotional expression were woven directly into play, creating different levels of engagement for different ages and abilities. Stages, games, seating and gathering spaces also invite caregivers, siblings and neighbors to participate, making learning social and intergenerational. Embedded within a free neighborhood park, these experiences make playful learning an accessible part of everyday community life and the infrastructure of the city.
Environmental Impact.
The Play Village keeps Fernhill Park’s natural environment front and center while prioritizing smart sourcing, durability and operational efficiency. Recycled and long lasting materials, robust construction and virtually maintenance free finishes minimize ongoing upkeep while supporting intensive public use. Interventions are integrated among the park’s trees, pathways and open spaces, allowing nature itself to become part of the learning experience. The Riverbed Crossing reinforces this connection through water inspired play, stories about water and a matching game featuring leaves found within the park, turning the surrounding ecology into a built in educational resource.
Many Voices. One Place.
Designing within a public park means balancing many voices at once. Community priorities and playful learning goals had to align with sculptural ambition, engineering, accessibility, safety, durability, budgets and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation operational requirements. FutureTogether shepherded the project through design development, L&I, engineering and Philadelphia Art Commission approvals, fabrication and installation. Rather than treating these requirements as constraints, we integrated them into the design, translating sometimes competing needs into expressive, durable public infrastructure that remained true to the community’s vision.
Playful Learning.
Working with Playful Learning Landscapes, learning became another material for designing the park. Rather than separating education from play, opportunities for counting, pattern making, sensory exploration, movement, storytelling, collaboration and emotional expression are embedded directly into the experience. Each element invites multiple interpretations, allowing children to discover new ways to engage as they grow, return and play with others. The result is a landscape where play is the interface and learning is embedded within it.
A New Model For Public Play.
Fernhill Play Village proposes a broader role for neighborhood green space.
A park can support physical activity while also encouraging literacy, mathematics, creativity and environmental awareness. A sculpture can become a game. A landscape can become a lesson. A stage can create opportunities for children to perform and neighbors to gather. And learning can happen through a conversation between a child and caregiver without either of them thinking of it as education.
The project brings together community knowledge, playful learning, art, landscape and design within a single public environment.
It is a model for making education part of everyday play and for making those opportunities accessible to everyone: a green space designed not only for how communities use parks today, but for what public space can become.
Links & Press.