A playground opens at every speed

Léa judges playgrounds by the moment before play begins: whether the gate is obvious, whether the ramp feels like part of the game, and whether a tired parent can see enough without hovering over everything.

"Accessibility should not arrive as a special route at the side," she says. "The best playground makes it look ordinary to join in."

A park playground rebuilt around inclusion

The City officially opened the new Merl Park playground on 14 July 2026. The site is designed as a family place for gathering and relaxing, with play equipment for different ages set into the park landscape.

The project began from a familiar problem: over time the playground had become a disconnected mosaic of added equipment. The rebuilt version is presented as a fully inclusive and cohesive playground, shaped around many play options and the needs of children of all ages.

• A 2021 online survey, information boards and an on-site suggestion box gave residents and children a way to feed ideas into the design.
• After meetings with residents and users, the first design was reworked in spring 2024 before works started in September 2025.
• Because parking near Merl Park is limited, the City asks visitors to consider bus lines 5, 6 and 15.

Ramps, water and shared routes

Inclusivity and accessibility are at the heart of the Märeler Park concept. Specially adapted equipment lets wheelchair users play alongside other children, and an accessible walkway links towers, platforms and routes instead of treating access as an afterthought.

The northern water play area covers 900 m² and is built around platforms, ramps, pumps, channels, fountains and sand-and-water experiments. Elsewhere, towers refer to hydroelectric and wind power, with sensory and educational games, rope tunnels and a slide.

A place that lets parents step back

The southern section adds an oval swing structure with conventional swings, nest swings, two-person swings, infant swings, hammocks and inclusive swings. The layout lets children watch each other and lets parents keep an eye on the whole scene.

Léa likes that the official details are tactile: robinia wood, stone, sand, shock-absorbing aggregate, shaded under-walkway spaces, a Sécher Spillplaz safety label and 7,500 m² of room. The serious part is hidden in plain sight: the playground works only if different children can forget, for a while, that someone had to design that fairness.