Fernbank Museum Wildwoods Outdoor Play Area
The Fernbank Museum expanded outdoors this summer with its recently opened Wildwoods exploration and outdoor adventure play area. The expansion included an elevated walkway, an interactive dry and water play area, and various nature trails.
Outdoor Play Area Features, Designed & Fabricated by COST
COST was contracted to assist the preconstruction team with budgeting and shop drawings and was later contracted for model building, fabrication, and construction of the interactive water play area, some dry play elements, and several unique sensory walls and sculptures along the nature paths. The water play area includes a simulated rock waterfall that resembles native Georgia landforms, down to unique mosses. Children learn about dams and experiment with water flow with levers and valves within the streams. Crawl through logs and rock outcrops allow kids to interact with “natural” features while items like sensory walls, simulated animal footprints, discovery boxes, and even faux scat allow kids and parents alike to experience the deep woods, just a short distance from the museum doors.
The project team included Thinkwell Design, Slyvatica Studio architects, Van Hinkle Construction, Daniel’s Woodland, and numerous passionate museum employees.