The Playground was started out of a need for a space for students and members of the community to experiment with materials and making. This community space is, at its heart, low-tech and accessible, encouraging all to get involved. The Playground consists of 5 components – Kitchen, Workshops, Courtyard, Community and Material Library. All 5 components are interconnected to create a circular system. “Waste” is collected and sorted, taken to the coworking space and material research is carried out through playful and experimental methods. Organic waste that cannot be used further is composted and used in the community garden. Once new material recipes are developed, workshops are organised to encourage peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing. The low-tech nature of the space allows individuals to continue experimenting with materials once they have left the space (unlike most Make spaces with specialist equipment).
The Playground is community-driven, with several communication
channels available for members to engage with one another. Regular material meetings, centred around a specific material, take place to allow community members to share their work and get feed back from others. All of this culminates in a more connected and engaged community. Members are more aware of their relationship to the materials they interact with on a daily basis, and a more circular system is developed, waste is reconsidered as a valuable raw material and the process of making and failing is allowed to flourish.
