Southport Broadwater Play Attraction: Delivering Place-Based Creative Play Infrastructure

Queensland Government Ministers Urban Design Award 2023

The Context

Destination playgrounds are increasingly vital for urban activation, but they often rely on off-the-shelf equipment that lacks connection to place. For the Southport Broadwater Parklands, the City of Gold Coast required an iconic play attraction that was not only fun but deeply rooted in the ecological narrative of the Broadwater Estuary.

The challenge was to conceptualise and deliver a bespoke play environment that paid homage to the site’s migratory birds and sea life. The project demanded a rigorous approach to safety and engineering to transform artistic concepts into durable, public-ready infrastructure.

The Collaboration

AECOM Australia (Landscape Architecture) led the design team, engaging POMO to drive the placemaking strategy and manage the technical delivery of custom elements. Working alongside visual artist Simone Eisler, we moved from an invitational pitch, winning it and through to detailed design and final construction. This multi-disciplinary structure allowed us to integrate creative placemaking directly into the larger infrastructure contract.

Delivering Southport Broadwater Play Attraction: The Implementation Process

POMO’s role extended far beyond concept generation. We were responsible for the “Implementation Gap” the critical phase where artistic ideas are engineered for public safety and longevity.

Technical Fabrication & Engineering

We designed a suite of bespoke elements, ensuring full compliance with Australian Standards for playground safety. This included:

  • Migratory Bird Eggs: We designed and delivered climb-in concrete eggs featuring precise shell patterns of local vulnerable species. A regional artist was engaged to help bring these to life. Actual bird eggs were used as studies for these and we replicated their egg markings precisely.
  • Soldier Crabs: Standard concrete traffic bollards were reimagined and fabricated into soldier crabs with custom brass eyes, turning functional infrastructure into play.
  • Bronze Integration: We designed small bronze estuary animals (stingrays, flathead, starfish) to invite discovery throughout the site and worked with Simone Eisler to have them fabricated for installation.

Safety Certification & Compliance

Delivering custom play equipment requires rigorous risk management. POMO worked closely with safety certifiers (CCEP) and engineers to ensure every bespoke item from the climbing eggs to the climb-in pipes met strict structural and fall-height requirements. This technical oversight provided the client with the confidence that “custom” did not mean “risk.”

Materiality & Environmental Education

We selected robust materials like bronze, heavy timber, and sandblasted concrete to withstand the coastal environment. The design actively fosters environmental stewardship; for instance, we engineered concrete impressions of plastic rubbish to teach children about human impact on marine ecosystems and integrated interpretive signage that tought children and parents about the local marine and bird life as well as the importance of environmental stewardship.

The Impact

The project successfully delivered a multi-layered educational experience that connects children to the local ecology. By translating the Broadwater Estuary’s narrative into physical form, the playground fosters a deep sense of place and ownership.

The project’s excellence in design and delivery was recognised with the AILA People’s Choice Award, proving that bespoke, place-led infrastructure delivers measurable social value that means something special to communities.

Sustainability Outcomes

Social Sustainability Outcomes

  • Inclusive and Accessible Play: The inclusion of a custom play table designed for children with disabilities is a cornerstone of the playground’s social sustainability. It ensures that children of all abilities can participate in imaginative play together, fostering an inclusive and equitable community environment.
  • Intergenerational Engagement and Learning: The playground is designed as a multi-layered educational experience. Features like the quiz game, the glockenspiel matching bird calls, and hidden animal sculptures encourage children and their caregivers to explore, learn, and discover together, facilitating shared experiences and intergenerational connection.
  • Fosters a Strong Sense of Local Identity: The entire design is a homage to the Broadwater Estuary. By basing play elements on local wildlife (migratory bird eggs, soldier crabs, fish) and natural forms (shells, tidal patterns), the playground instills a deep and specific sense of place, connecting local children and families to the unique character of their home environment.
  • Promotes Physical Health and Active Lifestyles: The playground offers a diverse range of physical challenges, from the tall spiral tower to various climbing elements. This encourages active, physical play, which is crucial for children’s health and development, and establishes positive, healthy habits in a fun and engaging setting.

Environmental Sustainability Outcomes

  • Cultivates Environmental Stewardship from a Young Age: This is the project’s most significant environmental outcome. By embedding educational messages directly into the play experience—such as concrete impressions of plastic rubbish, interpretive signs about environmental responsibility, and games about finding things that don’t belong in the ocean—it actively teaches children about the human impact on marine ecosystems. This fosters an early understanding and sense of responsibility for the environment.
  • Deepens Connection to Local Ecology: The playground acts as an interactive field guide to the local estuary. Children learn to identify the eggs of vulnerable migratory birds, recognize local fish and crabs, and even hear the notes of local bird calls. This direct, tactile engagement with local biodiversity builds a strong, personal connection to the natural world, which is a critical foundation for future conservation values.
  • Durable Materials for Longevity: The use of robust and long-lasting materials like concrete, bronze, and heavy timbers ensures the playground has a long lifespan. This reduces the need for frequent replacement, minimising the whole-of-life environmental impact associated with manufacturing, transportation, and disposal of materials.
  • Integrates Environmental Messaging into Everyday Objects: Even the custom garbage bin panels feature marine animal designs and environmental messages. This small but important detail integrates the theme of environmental care into every aspect of the user’s experience, reinforcing the core message of stewardship in a subtle but constant way.

Contact POMO to discuss how we can work with people and place to design and deliver your next bespoke urban revitalisation project.



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