Blade–Made playgrounds
Year
2008, 2016
Location
Rotterdam, Terneuzen
Client
Foundation Kinderparadijs Meidoorn,
Municipality Terneuzen
Blade–Made is transforming the waste from wind turbines into functional and circular urban playgrounds for children. This replaces the use of virgin resources with products that have a lower carbon footprint than conventional designs. In fact, Blade–Made playgrounds reduce carbon emissions by around 90% compared to conventionally made playgrounds.
It all started when designing Wikado, a new playground for the foundation “Kinderparadijs Meidoorn” in Rotterdam.
The foundation “Kinderparadijs Meidoorn” needed a new playground on their 1200 m² plot. The existing playground was in poor condition and in dire need of renovation. Superuse designed a new playground using five decommissioned wind turbine blades and reusable elements from the previous playground.
The blades are placed around an existing concrete slab and used to create a maze-like space with a panna (soccer) cage in the middle. The base of the blades is deployed as four towers, each with its own character. Sawn-off sections are scattered through the garden and connect the towers. A climbing net hangs between these towers, also preventing balls from ending up in neighbours’ gardens.
By reusing, we are reducing carbon emissions with roughly 90% compared to a conventional playground.
The municipality of Terneuzen wanted an iconic playground on a small beach next to the harbour. The location is outside the dykes and can flood from time to time, making it a wondrous swamp-like environment, including a primordial gully.
We cut up two wind turbine blades and added climbing frames, ropes, ladders and a slide to create more diversity in play. The composition of the blades looks like a stranded submarine, and this nautical character was emphasised by the use of white and blue.
