Context
Play9’s largest playspace to date, located near Sacramento. The unique geography of this region meant liasing with external surveyors in the US, internal engineers and architects to design the Hiker Hut and the thematic Fir Trees to a strict seismic code.
Renders depicting the space with kids and parents interacting with the playstructures.
Butterflies
The butterflies are constructed of bent sheet stainless steel and powdercoated. The difficult part of the design was how we would secure them to the various materials found throughout the playspace. The other designer and I tested and produced a 3D printed clamp that the butterfly would slot into, with a second half secured to the walls with screws that it would be slotted and glued to.
A small touch that had a big impact by breathing themed life into the space. Mirroring the natural species found just a few kilometers away near Lake Tahoe.
Drawings and Tech
I and the other designer iterated many designs for the trees, before landing on an elegant twisting cluster of leaves and branches. The leaves employed my Grasshopper script to generate their hole-punched patterns. Drawings were used to communicate the final design intent and technical specifications for production.
