Playform for Childcare

Playform outdoor environments by Urban Landscape Projects
Children playing with sticks, leaves and pebbles in a shallow sandstone creek bed Toddlers playing with blocks and figures on lawn beside raised timber planters, with educators alongside A childcare playspace with level lawn, raised planters and log seating under shade Children playing in a timber cubby kitchen with a sandpit beyond A childcare productive garden of rosemary, herbs and fruit trees beneath a flowering jacaranda Children walking across a synthetic lawn beside a fallen log and native grasses Purple shade sails over a large sandpit with a red jumping mound, children playing beneath

Transform your existing outdoor environment.

Playform for Childcare is ULP’s design and construction pathway for centres ready to make a meaningful change to an existing outdoor environment.

Drawing on the design intelligence we have developed since 1990, we bring proven Playform elements together in combinations that work beautifully as a whole. Each environment is carefully composed to create a balanced, holistic play experience, then shaped around your children, educators, existing landscape and the way your centre operates.

The result is a richer outdoor environment designed to inspire learning, encourage exploration and support children’s development, without the uncertainty of beginning from a blank page.

A completed childcare outdoor environment seen across the whole yard

More than equipment. A complete play environment.

Children experience outdoor spaces as a whole. Movement, imagination, sensory discovery, nature, social connection and quiet moments all contribute to how they play, learn and grow.

Playform brings these needs together through a considered combination of play and landscape elements. Rather than filling the yard with isolated equipment, we create a connected environment with variety, rhythm and purpose.

Every element earns its place. Every part contributes to the wider experience. The outcome is a play environment that feels engaging, generous and thoughtfully balanced for the children who use it every day.

Proven elements. Thoughtfully composed for your centre.

Playform is not a fixed layout imposed on every site, and it is not an open-ended design process that starts from scratch.

It is a proven design system that gives our designers a strong foundation. We select and combine established Playform, SPROUTS and Accent elements according to the opportunities, priorities and practical needs of your centre.

This allows us to develop an environment that feels specific to your service while retaining the knowledge, efficiencies and design thinking built into every Playform element.

Children on embankment slides set into a planted mound in a childcare yard
Children playing at a water pump and sand area in a childcare yard

Design intelligence built over more than 35 years.

ULP has been designing and building educational outdoor environments since 1990. Over that time, we have learned that a successful childcare yard needs to do much more than look exciting on opening day.

It must support different ages, personalities and ways of playing. It must work for educators, enable effective supervision and respond to the daily rhythms of the centre. It must balance challenge with comfort, activity with retreat, and immediate impact with lasting value.

Playform brings that accumulated experience into every project. Your centre benefits from design decisions informed by decades of observing how children, educators and outdoor environments interact.

Keep what works. Improve what doesn’t.

A great renovation does not necessarily mean removing everything and starting again.

Existing trees, planting, shade, equipment, surfacing and landscape elements can all have value. We look at the entire yard to understand what should be:

  • retained
  • improved
  • integrated
  • repurposed
  • replaced

By working intelligently with what is already there, we can direct more of your investment towards the changes that will make the greatest difference.

The finished environment feels renewed and cohesive, not patched together. Existing features become part of a clearer overall vision for how the yard should look, feel and function.

Designed around children. Made to work for educators.

The best childcare outdoor environments support children and the adults who guide their experience.

We take the time to understand your educational priorities, age groups, room connections, supervision needs, routines and the way the yard performs throughout the day. These insights help us create an environment that is inspiring for children and practical for educators to use.

Playform can support active movement, imaginative and sensory play, connection with nature, social interaction, confidence, independence and quieter experiences. At the same time, the design considers sightlines, access, circulation, transitions, maintenance and everyday operation.

The result is not simply a better-looking yard. It is an outdoor environment that becomes a stronger part of your learning programme and daily centre life.

Greater clarity from the beginning.

Starting from a blank page can create uncertainty around design, scope, cost and delivery. Playform gives the project a proven foundation from the outset.

Our designers begin with elements we already understand and know how to deliver. This creates a clearer pathway for developing the design, aligning it with the available investment and moving confidently towards construction.

You still receive an environment shaped for your centre. The difference is that the project begins with more knowledge, greater direction and fewer unknowns.

One experienced team from design to completion.

ULP brings design, estimating, construction planning, project management and delivery together as one coordinated service.

The people developing the design understand how it will be costed and built. The construction team understands the purpose behind the design. Decisions remain connected as the project progresses, giving your centre greater clarity and one accountable team throughout.

This integrated approach helps protect the design intent, manage practical constraints and ensure the environment that is created is the environment that gets delivered.

A clear pathway to transformation.

  1. 01Understand your centreWe begin with an initial qualification and site consultation to understand your existing yard, priorities, operational needs and what you want the project to achieve.
  2. 02Activate the projectThe Landscape Activation Agreement establishes the pathway for ULP to lead the project through design and delivery.
  3. 03Build the briefDuring the Design Brief Meeting, we bring together your educational goals, practical requirements, existing conditions and vision for the outdoor environment.
  4. 04Compose the environmentOur designers use the Playform Design System to select, combine and develop the right mix of proven elements for your centre.
  5. 05Plan and buildWe align the design, project cost, programme and procurement, then our experienced construction team brings the environment to life.
  6. 06Handover and ongoing careWe complete the project, introduce your team to the new environment and begin the ongoing support and care pathway.

Site consultation > Landscape Activation > Design Brief Meeting > ULP-led design > Delivery planning > Construction > Handover

Childcare play environment with timber structures and soft planting

An environment children can keep discovering.

The strongest outdoor spaces are not mastered in a single visit. They continue to invite children back, offering new possibilities as their confidence, interests and abilities develop.

Playform creates depth through the relationship between its elements. Children can move, imagine, investigate, connect, pause and return in different ways. Familiar places can support new experiences, helping the environment remain valuable as children and groups change over time.

This is what makes the design holistic. The individual elements matter, but their greatest value comes from how they work together.

Create more from the outdoor environment you already have.

Playform for Childcare can bring new purpose, possibility and life to an existing childcare yard. It allows your centre to create a richer environment for children while making considered use of the landscape and infrastructure already in place.

With more than 35 years of design and construction experience behind every project, ULP gives you a clear, expert-led pathway from the first site conversation to a completed environment ready to become part of daily centre life.

Find the right pathway for your centre.

Looking for a smaller, ready-to-go improvement?

Explore SPROUTS for Childcare for focused additions that can quickly bring more play, learning and life to your outdoor environment.

Planning a new centre or complete whole-yard development?

Explore Playform+ for Childcare for larger projects requiring a greater level of site-specific design and coordination.

© An original Playform designEvery Playform environment is an original Urban Landscape Projects (ULP) product, refined through decades of school landscape experience. All designs, drawings, documentation, imagery, graphics and visual content are the intellectual property of Urban Landscape Projects and are supplied exclusively for approved Playform projects. No part of this material may be copied, reproduced, adapted, distributed or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of Urban Landscape Projects.