In the growing realm of eco-friendly re-dos, some things've had extensive airtime: LED lighting, LEED-certified construction, and whatnot. Now we're seeing the trend creep towards lesser-known turf – playground design.
The Rudolf Steiner Lower School in Ann Arbor has a new master plan to renovate its playground, which sports the ubiquitous circa-1950s equipment and expanse of blacktop, into a natural playscape that will better handle water runoff.
Rather than climbing grids or man-made objects, the play area will have logs and boulders, hills and valleys sculpted from the earth, and a natural amphitheater formed from a hill embedded with stumps and rocks, according to Katrina Klaphake, development director at the Rudolf Steiner School.
The plan deletes half of the hardscape and replaces it with stepping stones and rain gardens to absorb water runoff from the roof. Students will also be able to use natural materials for building dams in a water play area to come in the form of a trough feeding into the rain garden.
"We're... managing more responsibly the water that comes off of our roof and any hardscape in the area and filtering that through rain gardens and also creating a really beautiful space for our kids to play in and interact with the natural world," she explains.
A $3,000 grant from the James A. and Faith Knight foundation helped fund the master plan. And Washtenaw County has committed to awarding a grant for the rain gardens once the project has commenced, says Klaphake. Though the county has awarded grants for other commercial and residential rain gardens, Rudolf Steiner is the first educational institution to receive one.
The school is in the process of raising the roughly $150,000 needed to complete the project. Installation should begin in summer 2012, Klaphake says.
Source: Katrina Klaphake, development director at the Rudolf Steiner School
Writer: Tanya Muzumdar
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