The Field

by Roger Grant, ASLA, PLA

As a landscape architect with four young children, I enjoy visiting unique and dynamic playgrounds wherever I travel. This summer, I had the good fortune of traveling to San Francisco, and I wanted to share my thoughts on a few playgrounds I visited for anyone thinking about the topic of children’s outdoor play as they head to San Francisco for the ASLA 2022 Conference on Landscape Architecture. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, and hopefully my experiences will be a motivating factor for others to get out and explore unique outdoor spaces in the Bay Area and beyond.

Koret Children’s Quarter and Playground
320 Bowling Green Drive (southeast corner of Golden Gate Park)
San Francisco, CA 94199

Originally opened in 1888, some claim that this is the oldest children’s playground in the US. It was remodeled and reopened in 2007, and has some unique, artistic, and fun features that make it stand out. The play area is about an acre and mostly open, with a sunny exposure. Pathways lead to sand areas with age sensitive manufactured playground equipment.

It contains several unique elements, including:

Giant concrete climbing wall waves: two separate freestanding painted wave sculptures with some holes and grips for climbing, which blur the line between fun and danger. They offer the risk/reward of climbing higher and scaling/ bouldering across and to the tops (roughly 6’ ht for small wave and 10’ ht for tall wave), but for a parent on vacation the risk was a little uncomfortable. In the two hours I was there they were not heavily used. A certain skill level is needed to get up, and it’s tempting to help smaller children on them only to regret the decision as they teeter on the top and you hope they don’t fall off the side you’re not patrolling.

Sea serpent mosaic through a sand area: the artistry is beautiful, but generally the fun my children found was jumping off the elevation change it creates from surrounding landscape areas to a sand pit below. It’s a unique piece of art with a high level of detail that may be more appreciated by parents than children.

The concrete slides: this general concept of a concrete slide seems unique to Northern California, and I have great childhood memories of exploring them across the Bay in Berkeley with cousins. It is truly the perfect combination of unique design and craftsmanship with functionality and attractiveness for children. At this site, children scale up the tined concrete and built-in wooden stairs bringing various scraps of cardboard to sit on and try to navigate the perfect ride down. It’s a side-by-side double slide, so children can race down or at least one person can’t jam the whole attraction. It offers a similar but unique experience in every ride based on the child’s ability to control their body with the smoothly worn grooves of the slide and their individual cardboard piece. It feels like the same principle as surfing, where the infinite variability of each attempt creates a memorable and unique experience and drives a desire to improve for the maximum pleasure. This slide was endlessly busy. As an embankment slide, the risk was low and in over a hundred trips I watched, I saw only one bruised wrist. Most children observed were between ages 5-12. A few younger children tried and had difficulty with the agility and control needed to ride the cardboard down. My inner child wanted to ride again like the old days, but I was overcome by physics, as there appears to be a balance of weight and friction that children have and most adults just don’t. There’s something so special and uniquely Californian about these concrete slides, and I highly recommend seeking out one of these old gems that are buried across hills all around the Bay Area.

While I mention the specific items that caught my attention, there were conventional play areas as well. Separated by age, these other play areas (apparently from the 2007 renovation) were generally doing well and nestled in the park with a little shade from the mature trees. It is worth noting that a historic and inexpensive ($1 or $2 ticket) carousel is only 100 yards from this play space. There’s also a kiosk with hot dogs, snacks, and beverages and a nearby bathroom. This constitutes a “critical mass of entertainment” that a family (especially visiting from out of town) can really mobilize for.

Tot Lot at Portsmouth Square Park 
703 Kearny Street
San Francisco, CA 94108

Portsmouth Square Park is a historically significant park in the heart of Chinatown. It was the first public square of San Francisco and only blocks away from the iconic Transamerica building. The playground areas in the park are generally old and poorly maintained with aging manufactured equipment. It is somewhat broken up by stairs and fencing, and a parking garage is located underneath.

It’s not an inspiring looking tourist destination, but the lower level has a small and unique play area referred to as the “Tot Lot” (although there’s no actual sign). It was built in 1984 by famous San Francisco artist couple Robert and Mary McChesney. Their contribution is a fun and playful little sand area with beautifully formed concrete figures representing the symbols of the Chinese zodiac.

It’s suited for small children and appears well used. There’s nothing memorializing the Tot Lot except a small plaque indicating it was a gift commissioned by the Tamarack Foundation. Regardless, it is a small and unique work of art in the name of children’s play.

Willie “Woo Woo” Wong Playground
830 Sacramento Street
San Francisco, CA

Located a few blocks from Portsmouth Square in Chinatown is a park that was extensively remodeled in 2020 and named for a local basketball legend and later community advocate Willie “Woo Woo” Wong. Earthscape Play designed the Chinese mythology dragon and phoenix climbable play structures, and Jensen Architects put together this creative multi-level outdoor space that is integrated with a nearby community center providing a variety of services and outreach programs.

The park covers a lot of topography with walls and the feature constructed elements with some contoured poured in place rubber surfacing and concrete perimeter sidewalks. The smaller structures were covered in young children as their teachers watched over them.

Larger structures hosted pre-teen and teens camping up high in partially shaded platforms playing on smartphones. The large stainless-steel slide was available, and my boys loved it. At roughly 40’ long and 10’ wide and 15’ drop, it was a good ride.

The playground and park have other outdoor features like basketball courts, and the site integrates the playscape with a large indoor community center. Signs on windows and doors advertise all kinds of activities, camps, and learning opportunities, and it is clear Willy Woo-Woo Park is central to the community.

Presidio Tunnel Tops 
210 Lincoln Boulevard
San Francisco, CA 94129

As the newest and most elaborate play space and sitting near the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Tunnel Tops Playground in the Presidio will be heavily featured in any forum discussing children’s play in San Francisco. My observations are that the sequence of spaces and character of materials is beautifully modern and appeals to the modern natural playground themes of stone, sand, water, rope, and wood. The vistas from above the play area are amazing, and the contoured wooden benches are gorgeous and fun, but let’s focus on the dedicated children’s play space. It is roughly an acre in size and has some winding paths with narrower offshoot pathways creating some fun alternate routes to the spaces. There are features in each distinct play pod area including climber wall, sand and water play, loose parts play, climbers made of finished tree sections, a boulder covered tunnel, sand pit, rope swinger, and a polished concrete slide.

Generally, the area is flat with some moderate earth mounding and open with some canopy trees needing a few years to establish shade. The exposure could be intentional to provide safety related visibility or some other necessary function, but it is somewhat detrimental to the site in terms of the mystery and excitement of the sequence of spaces as well as availability of shade on a sunny day. The tallest features are the log-jam climber at about 15’ height and the embankment concrete slide and climbing wall at about 8-10’ height each. The slide is likely an homage to the California concrete slide style mentioned earlier, but being polished and straight, it functions like a typical slide and doesn’t offer a range of challenge and opportunity or necessitate cardboard. This may just reflect modern safety standards or a desire to not have cardboard littered around the park.

Visiting on the grand opening weekend, it was packed out during our time there and it was obvious that people thoroughly enjoyed exploring it. The bathroom concept is clever- there’s an interior courtyard within the building with a large block of individual non-gender specific restrooms that seem to support families and mom-son or dad-daughter trips. It’s a great way to resolve the age-old dilemma of who will take the children to the bathroom and prevent long lines for one gender bathroom that sometimes occurs. I believe cameras capture you entering the building facility, which adds a safety measure to the potential concern over who is in the bathroom court with the children.

The play space and its elements are generally an extension of the natural playground design movement. Some of the natural playground features are becoming more common and recognizable, as we witness refinement and repetition of the most enjoyable elements including water play with high end German equipment. The loose parts play and the rock play areas were conducive to imaginative play and balance, although the common action I observed was a child in a rock bin appearing to throw rocks. A large rock and wooden tunnel were stunning feats of engineering.

Overall, it is a fun setting with a well-crafted modern aesthetic for children from toddlerhood to around 10 years old. An added bonus is that parents have a world class view to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, and private food vendors are just outside the play area with some upscale snacking options. I hope to revisit once the site matures and experience it again.

Stay tuned for next week’s post, which will cover one last stop from Roger’s trip, located south of San Francisco in Monterey.

Roger Grant ASLA, PLA, is a landscape architect and consulting arborist in the sprawling North Atlanta suburbs. He has been practicing for 16 years, working on a wide variety of public and private developments. A father of four, he is passionate about the design and function of children’s outdoor spaces and cognizant of the need for creative and engaging playscapes that can compete with modern devices for children’s attention and entertainment. Roger is co-chair of ASLA’s Children’s Outdoor Environments Professional Practice Network (PPN).