Projects
John Byrne Playground

Chiltern Recreation Reserve

A challenge-focused playground offering more ways to play.

Project Overview

Resilience
John Byrne, West Wodonga, Victoria
City of Wodonga
Replace the existing playground with a custom-designed play unit, basket swing and rocker that improve shade and address local play needs.

Project overview

John Byrne Playground in West Wodonga has been renewed with a new local playspace designed for the children and families who live nearby. Delivered for the City of Wodonga, the project replaces the previous combination unit and swing set while helping address a gap in play provision within the surrounding precinct.

The playground centres on a custom-designed Resilience combination unit, developed specifically around Council’s requirements. A basket swing and individual cow rocker sit alongside the unit, creating a compact neighbourhood playground with a mix of active, social, imaginative and sensory play.

Design and layout

The custom combination unit is arranged across extended platforms designed to accommodate large roof coverings directly over the main play areas. This provides more shaded play while allowing the structure to include activities at different heights and levels of challenge.

Stair access and a junior slide provide a straightforward route for younger children, while the double rock wall, monkey bars, glider and pommel walk introduce more physically challenging ways to move through the equipment. A catwalk and crawl tunnel connect the platforms, giving children different routes between each section.

At ground level, the café servery, bench seat and chimes panel provide opportunities for imaginative, social and sensory play. The basket swing and cow rocker are positioned separately from the combination unit, adding movement-based activities beyond the main structure.

Play Elements

With slides at two heights, several ways to climb and a mix of upper-body and balancing activities, the combination unit gives children plenty of choice in how they move through it. Ground-level activities also provide ways to play without needing to access the elevated platforms.