Project Overview
Sugarloaf Park, Yarrabilba, QLD
How do you create a playground landmark that feels distinctive to a new community while remaining connected to the character of its place?
At Sugarloaf Park in Yarrabilba, Queensland, the answer was a custom, bird-inspired play tower referencing the area’s connection to the white cockatoo.
Designed by RPS for Stockland and delivered in collaboration with Eureka Landscaping and multiple industry partners, the playground combines sculptural form, active play and thoughtful landscape integration to create a memorable destination for children, young people and the wider community.
The result is a bold play space with a strong visual identity, a connection to place and designed to stand out within the surrounding residential landscape.
Location: Yarrabilba, Queensland
Client: Stockland
Project partners: RPS and Eureka Landscaping
Industry partners: Cemer, Quali-Cite, HAGS and Omnitech
Project Design
The brief
The project called for a customised circular feature tower inspired by the local identity of Yarrabilba, with an elevated viewing platform and a natural, landscape-led appearance.
The design narrative developed by RPS was drawn from Kairabah, meaning “place of the white cockatoo”. The theme was expressed through the structure’s overall form, cockatoo details, colour, and play experience.
Key objectives included:
- Creating a recognisable destination piece for the emerging community
- Translating the local design ‘white cockatoo’ narrative into an integrated architectural form
- Providing elevated, physically challenging and discoverable play
- Balancing bold visual impact with natural materials and planting
- Supporting a broad age range through varied movement and social experiences
- Incorporating inclusive play opportunities within the wider playground layout
Design response
Working from RPS’s design vision, the centre of the playground is a custom circular bird inspired, tower, manufactured by our industry partner Cemer.
The tower’s tapered form, vertical framing and elevated profile create a strong sculptural presence and a sense of movement throughout the structure.
Colour, material selection and architectural detailing reinforce the broader design narrative, while alternating tones across the slide panels add depth and visual rhythm. This helps the enclosed tube slides read as part of the overall composition rather than as separate attachments.
Inclusivity
Play experience
The tower offers a layered sequence of climbing, navigating, viewing and sliding. Ropes and net elements create multiple pathways through and beneath the structure, supporting balance, coordination, decision-making and graduated challenge.
The elevated viewing platform provides a strong sense of arrival and outlook, while the enclosed tube slides create fast, high-energy movement back to ground level.
Across the wider play space, the equipment mix includes:
- Custom feature tower play unit
- One-bay Omniswing with strap and infant seats
- Spinmee inclusive carousel
- Multi-Use Games Arena incorporating integrated basketball and futsal goal ends
This combination broadens the play offer beyond the central tower, providing opportunities for swinging, spinning, climbing, social play and informal ball games.
Inclusive play
Inclusive play was considered as part of the overall spatial experience rather than through a single standalone element. The Spinmee carousel supports shared play, while accessible circulation and clear connections between equipment zones help children and carers move through the space more comfortably.
Landscaping
Eureka Landscaping was responsible for the planting and landscaping works that bring the broader park setting to life.
Generous planting, timber elements, stone, mulch and nature-based play features soften the scale of the tower and create a stronger relationship between the equipment and the surrounding environment.
A combination of rubber surfacing and mulch helps define different play zones while responding to the movement, access and impact requirements of each activity.
From elevated drone views, the relationship between the playground, paths, lawn, planting and shade becomes especially clear. The play space functions as part of a broader park composition, with the tower providing a strong focal point without overwhelming the landscape framework.
Project Outcome
Sugarloaf Park is now a distinctive community destination with a clear sense of identity.
The local design narrative is expressed through form, movement, colour and detail, creating a play experience that is both visually memorable and closely connected to place. The custom tower gives the park a landmark presence, while the surrounding inclusive, active and nature-based elements support a wide range of ages, abilities and play preferences.
The project also demonstrates Austek Play’s ability to collaborate with a wide range of partners and stakeholders to deliver a complex, highly customised outcome. From RPS’s initial design concept and Stockland’s project vision through to equipment customisation, manufacturing, technical coordination, installation, planting and landscaping, each contributor played an important role in bringing the project to life.
Planning a playground that needs to respond to a specific site, story or community identity?
We work alongside landscape architects, developers, councils, contractors and other project stakeholders from early concept development through customisation, equipment coordination, installation and after-sales support.
By listening first and working collaboratively from initial sketch through to site and beyond, we help translate your design intent into a safe, compliant and engaging play environment that responds to your space, budget and community.
