Planning And Design Process Of School Play Yards
In the first place, it has to be clear what a school aims at using the play yard. The functions of the playground can be as a meeting place, a gathering space, a play area and even as an assembly point. Most applications of the playground end up as multi-use featured spaces that need to be incorporated into the school design right from the very beginning.
The role of asphalt in planning a schoolyard
Traditionally, it is asphalt that has been seen to be a central component of school play yards, and the mistake of using asphalt has been realized now by the planners. There is a stronger emphasis on the use of grass and mud patches to form the back frame of the school play yard as far as possible.
The grass overtones, unlike the asphalt, have the flexibility that few other materials can provide the user. Grass has the stable characteristics of keeping the topsoil together even during the hardest of rains. When done just right, there can be a little substitute for the feel that a patch of grass provides the user.
Thus the next day schoolyards are being done in materials other than asphalt, and in case something harder wearing than grass is to be attempted, then materials like artificial turf and covering are tried.
Water and its availability
It would be wrong to consider the construction of a schoolyard with little water to be around. Mainly if the material of choice happens to be grass that does consume a lot of water too. There are some very creative ways of dealing with water and things like a drinking fountain, and flowing water is but one of the many ways water can be presented at the site.
It is common practice to construct a playing yard alongside the pool. There is the twin advantage of having a recreational spot close to each other and hence brings about a saving of space and area.
The soft touch
When the asphalt was used to construct the playing grounds, these were hard-wearing surfaces that gave the space a hard appearance. With the use of substantial amounts of green grass and mud paths, the look has been one of a softer presentation most of the time.
What needs to be stressed is how playgrounds can double up as emergency response areas during calamities and disasters. This would be of significance to the interior spaces of towns and villages when the local school ground could be the center of operations during an emergency situation. It is a convenient spot to gather around as has been demonstrated from time to time. The school forms the center stage of the lifestyles around the traditional villages and small towns as well.
The schoolyard is thus a multi-functional area that needs proper planning and cares each time it is being done up. Considering the very nature of the yards, remodeling them and recasting them would not be such a great deal after all.