Imagine our parks shaped through genuine partnership between children and designers … places that respond to the lived experiences of our tamariki while meaningfully embracing their aspirations for the future …

We’re once again working alongside Te Kōmanawa Rowley School in Ōtautahi to explore how tamariki experience and imagine the places around them. This co-design project is part of a wider aspiration to shape the future of their local park - ensuring it reflects the needs, identities, and everyday realities of the people who use it most.

This project isn’t just about installing a playground or upgrading a path. It’s about creating a public space that feels welcoming, safe, and meaningful for the Rowley community. And to do that well, we’re starting with the experiences and expertise of tamariki.

In recent weeks, 10-year old children have drawn memory maps, explored their neighbourhood park as part of a site visit, and used Explorer Cards to spark conversations about familiar places. Organised around landscape themes such as natural systems, gathering spaces, circulation and accessibility, the cards encouraged tamariki to think like landscape architects as they observed and analysed their surroundings.

These playful, hands-on activities, have uncovered rich stories about where children go, who they meet, what they notice, and how they feel in their local landscape. We’re beginning to see meaningful patterns … about where tamariki feel safe, adventurous, cautious, and proud, and importantly, also about why.

One theme that’s emerging is the importance of everyday moments … the familiar neighbour, the sheltered corner out of the cold easterly wind, a tree that’s just right for climbing. These details matter. They offer powerful insights into how design can nurture manaakitanga and belonging in public space.

Our longer-term vision is that Hoon Hay Park becomes a place where everyone feels a sense of connection and care. That starts by designing with, not for, the people who will shape its future. We’re just getting started with Te Kōmanawa Rowley School, but already the insights of tamariki are anchoring the process in what matters most to the community.

This collaboration is supported by Christchurch City Council, Rātā Foundation and Council’s Place Partnerships Fund. We look forward to sharing updates, including the development of a design brief shaped by tamariki in the coming weeks!

Photography: Petra Mingneau