• westlake lenora seattle modern wood playground westlake lenora seattle modern wood playground westlake lenora seattle modern wood playground
  • seattle washington playground wood lighting night modern seattle washington playground wood lighting night modern seattle washington playground wood lighting night modern
  • seattle wood modern playground city seattle wood modern playground city seattle wood modern playground city

Westlake and Lenora Playground

Client: City of Seattle
Collaboration: SiteWorkshop
Location: Seattle, Washington

At a busy downtown intersection, near Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, history is reproduced in a new play space designed with SiteWorkshop.  A large playhouse on wonky stilts reflects historical events from the early 1900’s when locals were rumored to spitefully reject the re-grading of the Denny Triangle, resulting in homes propped up on timber cribbing perched atop excavated hills.  

The site is in a busy neighbourhood that has recently added many new condominium and apartment buildings housing young families.  This public space is expected to be used into the evening hours so early designs have incorporated lighting for post-daylight play.  In addition to the playhouse, a concrete slide and hill scramble with play posts invites children to weave through the obstacle run. Significant intentionality runs through the design details – the staining on the play poles correlates to the imaginary lines where the playhouse would be at ground level; the rope chaos inside the playhouse simulates climbing and weaving between and through tree branches.