Same footprint, transformed potential: a Prep fort rebuilt for big body movement, challenge, and real play value
Carrara, Gold Coast, QLD
Prep Playground
Carrara, Gold Coast
Prep / Foundation Year (5-6 Years)
Gross Motor & Imaginative Play
Emmanuel College approached Wearthy with a clear vision: their existing Prep playground simply wasn't doing enough for their students. It lacked the physical challenge, variety, and invitation to move that young children need to develop gross motor skills, cross-lateral coordination, and the kind of embodied confidence that carries into the classroom.
The project came with a specific constraint — Wearthy was tasked with replacing the existing fort structure within its original footprint. The challenge was to take the same space and unlock far greater play value from it: designing a structure that would invite big body movement, offer multiple ways to climb, balance, challenge and transform what children could experience without expanding the site's physical boundaries.
The college wanted more than a new playground, they wanted an Adventure Garden. A place where Prep students would arrive at school excited, where the environment itself would be an invitation to explore, problem-solve and grow. Thoughtful and purposeful in its design, the brief called for a space that would support children socially, physically and academically, and, most importantly, make them genuinely love being at school.
Carla Stanley, Director of Pastoral Care at Emmanuel College, shares her experience with the Adventure Garden transformation
"It isn't just a structure. It isn't just a fort. It is an invitation for children to move their body in so many different ways... For us, it was the best experience we could have had."Carla Stanley Director of Pastoral Care, Emmanuel College
A raised deck at +1600mm with multiple entry points at varied challenge levels, giving children choice in how they approach the climb.
A corrugated metal roof shelters the fort, extending play into more weather and creating a distinct, sheltered gathering space.
A slide for fast descents, paired with monkey bars that support both forward and backward traversal for upper-body strength and coordination.
An open space beneath the fort dedicated to creative and imaginative play, alongside timber sleeper steps, mesh panel walls, and timber guard rails.
At Emmanuel College, we applied the Ecology of Play principles to design an Adventure Garden that invites Prep students to move their bodies in countless ways — supporting them socially, physically, and academically from their very first year of school.
Spaces that allow children to simply be, without every moment managed or optimised.
Environments that support independent decision-making, even if choices lead to failure.
Spaces that whisper "what if?" instead of dictating "you must."
Book a discovery call to explore how we can design a bespoke play environment tailored to your school's unique needs.
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