Wheatlands Park is located in the Wheatlands neighborhood in a southern suburb of Denver and is the premier playground and gathering place for the community. The site is surrounded on three sides by neighborhood streets and homes, so the design required consideration of the homes that are in close proximity to the park. The fourth side of the park is a new YMCA facility that is currently under construction.

Landscape architecture firm The Architerra Group developed the master plan for the park. The plan included a custom, two-tiered playground, shelter area, and plumbed restroom. Architerra developed the construction document package and provided construction administration services for those park features. A future phase of this park will include a basketball court, a multi-use sport court, and a 'neighborhood patio' area with lawn and patio games.

The playground is inspired by the idea of allowing children to experience play from the perspective of the size of an insect. They are greeted into the playground with ants marching along a spiral wheat stalk path. The ants gradually get larger which allows the children to feel they are shrinking. They arrive into the playground as 'miniature' versions of themselves and are greeted by an 8' tall ant hill with marching ants returning to the colony, an earthworm burrowing out of the earthen wall, a curly leaf climber, a spider spinning a web climber, and a honeybee perched on a piece of honeycomb. In addition to the custom playground features, prefabricated playground equipment supports the insect-oriented design using colors and shapes found in the insect world.

The whimsical playground is supported by a large semi-custom shade structure that provides seating for six picnic tables. A new plumbed restroom building has a bottle filling station and drinking fountain as well as baby changing stations in the restrooms. The park is completed with an informal blue grass lawn, decorative blue grass berms, and large shade trees.

 
To take advantage of the existing challenging topography, the playground was designed with two levels with the custom climbing wall separating them. This created an interactive and playful way of transitioning between the differently spaces.

The materials selected for the park was based in existing materials throughout the community. Dark wood offset by cobble rock veneer and native and xeric planting were included in the park design, creating a seamless integration into the neighborhood. While the shade structure and restroom were provided by two different companies, great care was taken to ensure the finishes were the same or complementary, resulting in a unified look for the park.

As Landscape Architects, the Architerra Group strongly believes in the collaborative aspect of the design process. They invite all subconsultants to the table as they are developing design solutions, often involving them during early planning stages so that their input can be factored into design decisions. In addition to collaboration with other design firms during the design phase, they also collaborate with the contractor during the construction phase. Their philosophy is to bring them to the table when they enter the project process to facilitate proper communication channels and design making protocols. This creates a more streamlined construction phase and ensures that the integrity of the design is maintained while also responding to the inevitable challenges that can arise.

The collaborative spirit of design combined with a creative and whimsical inspiration for play created a unique and beloved park and playground for this neighborhood.

Team:
Prime Consultant:
- The Architerra Group, Landscape Architect
General Contractor: - Goodland Construction
Subconsultants:
- Ackerman Engineering, electrical engineer
- Akamai Design, civil engineer
- Applied Design Services, irrigation designer
- ESI Land Consultants, surveyor
- GROUND Engineering, geotechnical engineer
- Otegui Structural Services, structural engineer

As seen in LASN magazine, March 2021.