Designing Play Spaces for All

Jill Moore is an inclusive play specialist with Landscape Structures, a playground manufacturer based in Delano, Minn. She is also a wheelchair user who uses her lived experiences to help develop more innovative, informed and inclusive playground designs. Or rather, she’s used her childhood experience of not being able to access and enjoy most playgrounds to be an advocate for spaces that welcome all.

“When we build for inclusion, we’re saying who we value,” Moore said. “When I see an inclusive playground, I feel welcome there. Someone has thought of me and decided that I matter and have something to add.”

Moore has worked on projects of all sizes across the country for schools as well as communities, including the world’s largest inclusive playground, Park Circle in Charleston, S.C. She helps clients to consider play structures and equipment as well as who they are designing for and what play opportunities would best align with their community’s needs.

Moore spoke with School Construction News about what makes for a successful project, how clients can shift their approaches to make spaces even more welcoming and the common recommendations that can help any play space be more inclusive.