Marrungi Wayaparra Kindergarten
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Our landscape architects designed an integrated, multi-purpose outdoor space that maximises play opportunities while celebrating community, connection and culture at a new kindergarten in Marong.
Spiire’s Bendigo Landscape Architecture team was engaged by the City of Greater Bendigo to design the vibrant outdoor play space and welcoming entry experience at the new Kindergarten in Marong. The facility was built in response to increased demand for kindergarten places in the region, supported through a grant from the Victorian Government.
Working alongside external engineering and architecture consultants, our team delivered sketch design and documentation, before subsequently providing technical assistance during the contract administration phase.
Our landscape architects designed the play space to maximise play opportunities for children in the 3-5 age bracket, using creative solutions to overcome space limitations and provide children with an area that facilitates a broad spectrum of play experiences. The team combined permanent play structures that offer key physical play opportunities – swings, climbing, slides and monkey bars – with a range of flexible spaces for teachers to utilise loose and freestanding items and invitations for sensory, social, imaginative and dramatic play.
Key features include a hand-operated water pump, cubbies and a mud kitchen, along with sand pits, a cycling circuit, chicken coop, and composting area. There is also a central outdoor gathering space with a custom Djaara sculpture and garden areas that incorporate native and climate appropriate evergreen shrubs and grasses, which aims to foster love and appreciation for the natural environment.
Following Spiire’s recommendation to include a cultural artwork by Djaara artists within the outdoor gathering space, the client commissioned Djandak and local artists Natasha Carter (designer) and Andre Sardone (producer) to create the artistic centrepiece for the space ‘Wirrakya Waa-ii’. The sculpture celebrates the local community and respectfully acknowledges the deep connection to Country and Indigenous culture within the region.
