Winner: Public

The Village of Waunakee takes pride in the diversity and depth of its recreational system. The community recognized a need for a fully inclusive play space that allows children of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to play together; thus, the vision for the Centennial Park Playscape was born.

The new park includes a 4,000-square-foot interactive splashpad with multicolored concrete, a concrete plaza with festoon lighting, an 8,000-square-foot ADA-accessible playground with sloped embankments, a wheelchair rocker, a merry-go-round, and inclusive swings.

The site topography offered opportunities for creative grading, sloped concrete embankments, and decorative stone walls to highlight the park's elements.

To ensure the rubber safety surfacing remains stable on a 45-degree slope, a concrete sublayer was poured on the steep embankment to improve adhesion. The splashpad area was designed with large, sweeping arcs of integral-colored concrete, accented by crisp sawcut joint lines.

Thickened edge walkways along the artificial turf areas and the parking lot edge provide necessary edge treatment and vertical safety barriers for pedestrians in active zones. Several concrete seating areas ring the playscape, and colorful shade sails provide shelter for patrons.