Designing for nature-based play: Niagara Parks Commission Children's Garden
Image: Artist's Rendering of the Tree Top Walk at the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens Children's GardenNiagara Parks is building Niagara’s first Children’s Garden, which will help children of all ages and abilities connect with nature through outdoor play. DTAH led the schematic design, which includes several exciting park features:
Tree Top Walk: This accessible timber causeway will offer visitors of all ages an elevated view of Botanical garden’s tree canopy and the species it supports.
Niagara Parks is within the Carolinian Life Zone, which supports the most productive and endangered assortment of plant and animal species in Canada.
Top Rock: This area showcases the unique geological wonders of Niagara with large, sloped slabs of limestone that mimic the stone base of the Niagara Gorge and the Escarpment.
The Gorge: Layers of rock and replicas of fossils demonstrate 450 million years of natural history and how the power of Niagara Falls was able to cut through the rock over 15,000 years ago to create this geological landscape.
The Hive: Located in the heart of the garden, this whimsical play space will be abuzz with activity while teaching children about the vital world of insects and pollinators.