As you are considering how best to lay out your park, don’t forget to prioritize one of the most essential elements of your park’s ability to create a welcoming and comfortable space—shelters! In many parks, shelters are too small or don’t exist at all. Your park patrons will stay longer and visit your park more often when you provide them a place to get out of the sun and weather.
Front & Center
When you’re designing your park, don’t make shelters an afterthought. By considering these important elements of your park at the beginning, you’ll be able to design a more cohesive site, as you can better ensure that your various amenities and furnishings will complement one another, in terms of color, style and other design elements.
Your options might seem endless, so start by thinking about all the different areas of your park, and decide whether you’d like to add some shade and shelter there. The focal point in your park might be the playground and ballfields for the kids, but the focus for parents is where to sit in the shade and watch the action. Even at the dog park, pet owners look for a place in the shade after their pooch is unleashed.
No matter whether you’re looking for a single, central pavilion or a variety of large and small shelters, along with pergolas, kiosks and more, premanufactured shelters and structures offer a wide variety of coordinated design options that can fit into just about any site.
Looking Good
Once you know where you’d like to include shelters in your park, consider your design options. Be sure your choice fits the aesthetic of your site, whether it’s a sports park with multiple ballfields, a formal city square or a rustic
lakeside retreat. This will influence your selection of materials and colors, as well as other design options.
While many design choices are available right out of shelter manufacturers’ catalogs, many also offer a variety of customization options to allow you to make a choice that truly suits your site. If your town has a colorful history or beautiful geography, for example, you can choose ornamentation options to spotlight those features.
You can also consider power and lighting options, which will expand the types of activities you can promote on your site. Solar packages can make it simple to add power where there is no electrical connection.
For More Information
Classic Recreation Systems Inc.
800-697-2195
www.classicrecreation.com