Lawrence Playground
Location:  Queens, NY
Client: NYC Parks

Lawrence Playground, located on the northeast edge of Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, is part of a corridor of parkland that includes the Queens Botanical Garden and Kissena Park. The playground is surrounded by busy roads, including College Point Boulevard, the Van Wyck Expressway and its on-ramp, and the bridge that  leads to the Queens Botanical Garden that was built for the 1939 World’s Fair. The project includes a new playground, spray shower, multi-purpose lawn area and sledding hill, basketball courts, reconstruction of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway and the comfort station. 

The spirit of the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs is reflected in the layout of the park, with the vocabulary of planted walks and a circular play area, as well as the selection of “futuristic” play equipment, with a tall net structure easily visible from surrounding streets, like the other structural remnants of the 1964 World’s Fair. 

The playground area opens onto a lawn, where the topography has been manipulated to create a sledding hill that slopes down from the high point at College Point Boulevard, providing a more interactive and exciting play experience.  Substantial drainage issues are mitigated through the introduction of integrated planted areas. To meet NYDEC’s requirements for a SPDES Permit, a 1,000 square foot rain garden is provided, planted with a variety of native vegetation.