Confluence | Detail

Wilder Bluff Park

Client

City of Shawnee

Size

40 acres

;

Wilder Bluff Park

Shawnee, Kansas

Confluence was engaged by the City of Shawnee to envision a unique and captivating concept for their new 40-acre park in the western portion of the city.

We worked with city staff to develop a public outreach plan, engaging the surrounding residents and school-aged children to envision how the park could be developed. Using a series of public input sessions and a “Plan the Park” workshop with the neighboring elementary school, our team developed early conceptual ideas that informed the final design.

The design includes a winding park entry drive passing through "The Bluffs” with views to a defined park green, eventually arriving into the heart of the park containing a water play area. Children can engage with two water streams and boulder fountain sprays that send water skyward.

The adjacent tree-top playground provides elevated rope tunnels that pass over a park walkway below and into the existing tree canopy, eventually sliding down to an additional wooded play space below. The park structure includes ample family seating, restrooms and a wood-burning fireplace. Stormwater is captured to replenish the existing water table while integrating into the context of the surrounding native landscape.

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