Playground@Landscape

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 manufacturer, BSW, based in Bad Berleburg, transformed the boring asphalt surfaces into
colourful and animated playing landscapes. 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.
ight from the start, I always had a vision of a hilly landscape",
"Rsaid landscape architect Franz-Josef Eger from the landscaping
architecture company BDLA Eger & Partner in Augsburg, about the striking
three-dimensional play area. On May 22, 2009 the new school
yard of the König-Ludwig school was opened by the Lord
Mayor Ludwig Fröhlich, inauguration at the König-
Otto school will take place soon. Overall, a total
area of 820 m² Playfix, the seamless impactprotection
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
of 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 scheme 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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