My Park Rules, Marrickville Public School

Children from Marrickville Public School in Sydney are enjoying their new $100,000 My Park Rules makeover, taking a hot asphalt yard to an engaging play space designed by Tract Consultants.

Street Furniture Australia proudly contributed Escola Platforms, Benches and Slim Benches, with eco-certified Jarrah battens and powder coated frames in bright Sensation Orange.

The My Park Rules competition, run by 202020 Vision and AILA, searched nationwide in 2016 for the most creative pitches to green local play spaces. The Marrickville students submitted a video showing their asphalt sqaure and how they’d like to see it transformed.

“This fantastic team of students and school put in a video entry that had an outstanding number of public votes. This area was in dire need of a greener future,” said Shahana McKenzie, CEO of AILA.

A group of Marrickville students interviewed other kids at the school to find out their needs and brainstorm ideas for a new play space. They researched design, safety standards and nature play.

“On winning the state competition we were awarded with our very own landscape architect, Julie Lee from Tract,” says their teacher.

“The kids worked with Julie to further their designs for the national competition. She really went above and beyond in the support she gave.”

Lee says Tract worked closely with the students and contractor Landscape Solutions, as well as donors and sponsors, in creating the design.

“To me, the most important part of this project is that we are greening a very urban, inner city area, and the students are going to be in touch with nature once again,” says Lee.

The sod-turning, or in this case, asphalt breaking, was attended by Lucy Turnbull and Anthony Albanese MP.

Turnbull, who was also on the jury for the competition, said it was “fantastic for the kids to get involved as future community members and, who knows, great construction leaders and designers and landscape architects.

“The kids are the great imaginers and innovators of how this space could be. It is wonderful that the young people of tomorrow are building a public park here and a great schoolyard.”