Loose fill surfacing on an accessible play structure?
Your choice of surfacing is of major importance when choosing an accessible, or inclusive playspace. So often the surfacing is treated as an afterthought, rather than being integrated into the whole plan.
Usually when designing a playspace, a client’s focus is more on the playground components, the slides, the climbers, the colours, and they completely ignore how are assuming a user with special needs is to traverse around the playspace.
A playspace designer should take a look at the users of the playspace, and integrate the appropriate surfacing to allow children to access all parts of the playspace, regardless of abilities.
Does a user in a wheelchair need to roll from freestanding component to freestanding component? In this case, loose fill surfacing will not do. Instead a monolythic unitary surfacing, like SofTile, or ActiveTurf is a better solution.
Creating a well designed playspace will inspire users of all abilities to have fun, to be challenged, and to use the playground; which is exactly what it’s intended for. Contact the experts at Active Playground Equipment for the perfect, user-appropriate playground design, like our Olivia DiMaio project.
