Now, it’s a multi-level activity hub. In between the sand-and-water-play zone and a boomerang-shaped climbing structure, a figure-8 tricycle track loops around two gathering areas: a story-time pavilion with a leaf-shaped, stormwater-collecting canopy, and a wood mound that becomes a winter sliding slope. To house props such as tarps and pool noodles – central to improvised play at JICS – we designed two colourfully shingled, organically curvy sheds: ‘The Onion’ and ‘The Potato’. Climbing-wall grips embedded in ‘The Potato’ enable it to double as a loft-like play area.

We conceived the building’s new accessibility ramp – a project requirement – as a site-traversing means of introducing new interactive play opportunities. Curving around a heritage bay window and rising toward the new accessible entrance, the ramp encloses a sensory garden nook along its inner edge, filled with plants varying in shape, colour, texture, and fragrance. Child-sized niches line the outer edge, and stepped log segments invite kids to climb through splayed pickets and onto the ramp. “Both the number of injuries and incidents of social conflict have gone down since the new playground opened,” says Laboratory School principal Richard Messina. “The kids have so many places to play, and they are so excited and challenging themselves.”