A New Play Space Grows from the Springs of Te Kōmanawa Rowley School

What happens when children are trusted as designers of their own play spaces? At Te Kōmanawa Rowley School in Ōtautahi Christchurch, we had the chance to find out. Working alongside tamariki and teachers, Gather Landscape Architecture guided a hands-on design process that was just as much about belonging, identity and creativity as it was about the structure we were about to co-design and build.

The school sits on land once part of the Te Kuru wetland, a landscape shaped by water, rich in ecological and cultural significance. ‘Te Kōmanawa’ means ‘the springs’, and the story of the place became a powerful starting point for the children’s design thinking.

Learning from the Land

We introduced the children to the nearby kahikatea forest at Pūtarikamotu Riccarton Bush - Christchurch’s last remnant of original lowland forest and just a short distance from the school. Stories of towering trees and buttressed trunks began to spark ideas. Could our play structures draw on these forms? Could the land’s wetland history influence how we think about movement, connection and shelter?

By grounding the project in this cultural and ecological context, we weren’t just designing a play area, we were building a deeper relationship with place.

Design - Prototype - Build

From early sketching to model-making, the children drove the design process. Cardboard models led to plywood scale models and then to full size cardboard prototypes, with groups testing, adjusting and rethinking their ideas along the way. Tamariki considered scale, accessibility, safety, and storytelling, translating their big ideas into practical designs that could be built and played on.

One of the beautiful things about working with children is the way they adapt. An ambitious idea for a multi-storey treehouse evolved into a grounded platform structure that retained the essence of adventure and shelter. At each step, the children worked collaboratively … discussing, testing, and learning from each other.

And then came the build. Working with a local joiner, the final modules were prefabricated, tested, and brought to site. With the help of whānau and some very enthusiastic painting sessions, the children took part in constructing the final pieces themselves … right down to deciding where they should go and why.

Embedding Cultural Values

This school community is proudly Māori and Pasifika, and the concept of Tauhi Vā - the Samoan value of nurturing relationships, was woven throughout the design. The children thought carefully about how their designs could support quiet play, group time, or sharing space with younger tamariki from the neighbouring kōhanga reo.

A ‘hiding place’, tucked among native planting became a favourite idea, offering a chance for both solitude and connection. Important, some children said, for when “you just need a quiet place to be.”

Impacts

Since the new structures went in, the play space has become a popular hub. The principal tells us that the kids use the area more, and in more purposeful ways. For some, it’s become a space of calm and self-regulation. For others, a place of pride - “We designed and built this.”

The area now also connected different parts of the school grounds, linking the forest, the orchard, and the classrooms in new ways. The process itself has became a form of learning, combining elements of maths, science, and the arts, with real-world outcomes that make sense to tamariki.

A moment that stays with me is a child who was hesitant to join in at the beginning, nervous about drawing or sharing ideas. By the end, they were confidently leading their others in construction, initiating ways to put modules together and to position key elements of the structure. That’s the power of co-design.

The Bigger Picture

This project reminds us that children aren’t just users of spaces, they’re imaginative, capable contributors. When we listen to their insights, support their ideas, and enable them to lead, we create spaces that are inclusive, more meaningful, and better connected to the values of the people who use them.

For Te Kōmanawa Rowley School, the result is more than just a new play area. It’s a space that holds stories, celebrates their unique place, and nurtures connection.