A 100m² playground with the name “Dune Square” was recently completed inside the Malaya Ordynka residential complex in Moscow. In designing this space, the Bureau Druzhba architectural practice applied some key principles for the design of child-friendly areas that have emerged from psychological and medical research. As a result, alongside traditional equipment such as swings, a slide and a sandbox, the playground also contains some abstract structures that are difficult to identify and can have a multitude of functions – a submarine? animal dens? – that do not impose a theme on the children for their games but instead encourage them to let their imaginations run wild, inventing new worlds and adventures every time they play.

The lighting concept was entrusted to the Moscow-based lighting designers Culture of Lighting (Kultura Sveta), who explain, “Our project can be described in just four words: high quality, simple design. There’s no need for special effects when lighting places like these, which are quite extraordinary in themselves: we decided just to delicately emphasize the existing architecture, with a few touches of light. All the building materials are of the highest quality, beautiful to look at and long lasting, and so must the lights be – which is why we relied on the quality of L&L Luce&Light for this.”

The wall that marks the edge of the playground is a blackboard for the children to draw on. The wooden beams that form a roof over the blackboard hold Ginko 1.0 projectors with 36° optics and 3000K white light. These create a lively, playful effect while indirectly illuminating the wall. The resulting atmosphere is cosy and welcoming.

To light the interior spaces where children can hide and play, Litus 2.4 recessed fixtures with a diffuse, warm light (2700K) were installed in the ceilings. These were specially chosen for their flush installation, which ensures the children’s increased safety by eliminating any sharp, protruding elements.

The Dune Square Playground project has been nominated for the darc awards 2019 – best landscape lighting scheme lighting design award.

Text adapted from the darcawards.com website