studio ossidiana creates colorful concrete landscape for school playground in the netherlands

studio ossidiana‘s ‘horismos’ is a playground for a new elementary school in vleuten, the netherlands, characterized by an undulating landscape of colored concrete elements. the project is designed to foster imagination, and encourage children to discover new ways of playing instead of dictating what they should do in it. the rotterdam-based studio has created the playground as a landscape at children’s height, where tactile surfaces and playful shapes are combined into a space to explore in different ways.all images by gert jan van rooijen

studio ossidiana has developed ‘horismos’ around a central piece of mountain-like concrete elements, which together form an undulating landscape that stimulates imagination and creativity. the piece is designed at children scale, with the dimensions of a passage for an adult, but the scale of a room for a child. the adventurous landscape offers itself as a labyrinth, a place to hide, and a place of encounters, which children can explore, climb on, or pass through.

the playground is materialized in colored concrete, with different finishings that provide tactile surfaces to be discovered. several round openings on the wavy concrete elements add another playful layer to the piece. the project is complete with a series of other areas, such as a stepped, circular zone built in pink concrete.

design process

project info:

name: horismos

architect: studio ossidiana

client: municipality of utrecht, OBS haarzicht school

partner: tomaello

location: vleuten, the netherlands