McMichael Park Nature Playspace

About

SALT was commissioned by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation to develop a Park Master Plan and new nature-inspired playspace for McMichael Park. Located in the East Falls neighborhood, McMichael Park is a 5.6-acre public park surrounded by a diverse user group of long-time residents and a burgeoning population of newer families with young children.

Categories Place Parks & Play Spaces Recreation Therapeutic

Project Details

Description

SALT collaborated with community stakeholders through an iterative, participatory process to create an inclusive and dynamic space for multi-generational play and social interaction at the heart of East Falls in Philadelphia. SALT developed a park Master Plan in 2017 which strategically outlined how to integrate a subtle approach to play and gathering into this quiet neighborhood park. The first project realized from the Master Plan was the North Play Pod—a thoughtfully designed playspace nestled among mature canopy trees, carefully balancing the program needs of diverse neighborhood groups.

Key design features include play equipment crafted from locust wood to harmonize with the surrounding park landscape, as well as benches hand-made from felled trees within the park. A series of stumps of varying heights create a natural edge and inspire imaginative play, while engineered wood fiber mulch offers a soft, natural play surface that also promotes stormwater infiltration. New native understory trees enhance the park’s ecological diversity, and the inclusive, accessible play and social spaces ensure engaging experiences for all community members.

Amenities

Nature play space with natural wood play elements
Inclusive swings for groups or individuals
Repurposed logs and stumps for seating and play
Traditional benches
Native canopy and understory trees

Contact SALT Design Studio info@saltdesigns.com SALT Design Studio McMichael Park Nature Playscape Project

Construction Details

Design Firm
SALT Design Studio

Project Managers
Katrina Rogus, RLA, Studio Director & Sara Pevaroff Schuh, RLA, Principal - SALT Design Studio

General Contractor
Kompan Inc., Buzz Burger Inc.

Total Cost
$222,668

Multiple children are playing on an expansive wooden play structure surrounded by green grass and foliage.

A circular perimeter made of natural materials surrounds a wooden play structure where children and adults are playing beneath a bright blue sky.

Two children in maroon shirts trek across a playground border made out of tree stumps of various heights while balancing with their arms out to their sides.

A youth in a maroon shirt and blue jeans is carefully balancing on one foot while on top of a log with hands out to the sides as others watch.

Large green trees provide shade for a girl in a blue dress and yellow shoes as she plays on a playground built from natural materials.

A young child in a blue dress stands barefoot on a concrete tree cookie holding a stick at a 90 degree angle. An adult is standing in the background.

Children and adults enjoy a swing set made from natural materials equipped with traditional swings and sensory enriching swings.

Recent Case Studies

A group of youth play with a football while other children sit on the berm. Behind them, kids play on the climber dome. The school building in the background is painted with bright colors and artwork.

Place

Marian Anderson Neighborhood Academy (formerly Chester Arthur Schoolyard)

Formerly an asphalt-covered space that offered little to engage youth, the renovated schoolyard at the Marian Anderson Neighborhood Academy is now an inviting green space for students and community members that elevates hands-on learning, physical activity, and connection to the natural world.

Surrounded by an abundance of green, a participant reaches up to carefully inspect a particular branch of leaves during one of Tremont’s herpetology SANCP classes.

Program

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont

Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont is a nonprofit field school situated within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It offers immersive, nature-based programs that enhance health and spark curiosity across all ages through profound engagement with the natural world.

Two participants in climbing gear sit on top of stacks of large rocks to celebrate a successful climb in Grand Teton, Wyoming.

Program

City Kids Wilderness Project

City Kids Wilderness Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the development of youth from under-resourced communities in Washington, DC through innovative outdoor experiential education and career readiness programs