Downtown Playground & Concessionaire Kiosk
Conceptual Design
Heritage Garden Tot Lot
Escondido, CA
4100 sq ft Children’s Playground
150 sq ft Concessionaire Kiosk
2900 sq ft Public Common Space
Existing Conditions
Design Inspiration
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Bryant Park
NEW YORK, NY
Reinvestment and a redesign starting in the late 1980s transformed the beleaguered Bryant Park into one of New York’s most beloved public spaces. Revenue from food kiosks help fund ongoing operations of the park, a model for fiscal sustainability in the midst of Escondido’s ongoing budget deficits.
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Pearl Street
BOULDER, CO
Pearl Street’s walkable, urban retail context bears similarities in scale to that of Escondido and activates common areas adjacent to dining and shopping with nature-inspired play elements for children. A focus on children helps activate the space with families, a welcome sight for local businesses.
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Quiosques de Refresco
LISBON, PORTUGAL
Lisbon’s renaissance of refreshment kiosks began in 2009 and has brought new life to the city’s public spaces by allowing them to intersect with private business operations. The structures demonstrate a value on community gathering by providing outdoor “third places” for social interaction.
Conceptual Design Renderings
Site Program
The redesign of Heritage Garden seamlessly integrates the existing garden and landscaping features with engaging, family-oriented community amenities.
Primary highlights include a centrally-located children’s playground, a concessionaire kiosk built into the existing octagonal gazebo structure, and the preservation of existing olive and citrus trees and the raised planters that house them.
The park features accessible pathways, ample seating areas, and shade structures for comfort in the heat of inland San Diego County’s summers. The concessionaire kiosk is situated by a common area that includes both a grass picnicking space and a deck area with tables, providing a natural spot for connection and refreshments. Gathering steps create additional spaces for community interaction, and also serve a practical role of seating for parents and an enclosing function for toddlers.
The design intent of the park redesign is a vibrant hub for recreation, socializing, and nature appreciation in the midst of an urban neighborhood.
Key Play Features
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Imaginative Play Area
Located at the point furthest from the intersection of Grand Avenue and Juniper Street, the imaginative play area features low-height canoe and crocodile features that allow for safe scrambling play while encouraging the development of imagination.
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Rock Sphere Fountain
A beloved feature at the nearby San Diego Zoo Safari Park, this rock fountain serves a dual function of masking street noise with the steady flow of water and entertaining little ones without the worry of falling into water that larger fountains present.
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Climbing Fort & Embankment Slide
A climbing feature combined with an embankment slide offers young ones a place to work on their developing motor skills while making use of the underutilized raised planter space near the northeast corner of the park.
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Nature-Inspired Play Equipment
Keeping with the original design inspiration for the existing Heritage Garden site, which places natural elements in the heart of Downtown Escondido, play equipment with nature-inspired forms, textures, and colors are used throughout the entire play space.
Key Site Design Features
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Shade Sails & Trees
Ample shade sails provide relief from the heat over the primary play structure, the toddler swingset, and the baby swingset. Additionally, the installation of four mature growth shade trees in strategic points within raised planters gives additional tree canopy shade.
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Self-Closing Toddler Gates
Spring-loaded gates at the three at-grade entrance points to the park assure parents that their child has a barrier standing between them and the vehicle traffic on Grand Avenue, Juniper Street, and the alley parking area north of the park.
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Gathering Steps & Picnicking Area
Four steps and a turf picnicking area delineating the play space from the concessionaire kiosk deck, not only provide 65 feet of seating for parents supervising their children, but also both a play and enclosure component for toddlers running through the play area.
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Accessible Ramp
An ADA-approved ramp offers access to the concessionaire kiosk and picnicking area for visitors using wheelchairs, walkers, and strollers, ensuring that all facets of the population have access to the park’s various amenities.
