Ocean Hill Playground & Skatepark
Location: brooklyn, NY
Client: NYC Parks
 

The design for the lower portion of Ocean Hill Playground transformed an expansive, degraded asphalt site into a neighborhood park with amenities and activities requested by the community. Located in the Ocean Hill residential section of Brownsville, Brooklyn, the park is adjacent to a combined high school, intermediate school, and elementary school. It includes an upper portion with an existing playground and public restroom building that were not included in the project scope. Input from the school stressed the importance of basketball, gathering spaces, and seating areas for its students, so three new basketball courts were included in the design and painted with the school’s colors. Picnic tables, bleachers for spectators to watch basketball, and benches located throughout the park provide many options for students and neighbors to sit or gather.

Trees and densely planted areas serve as edges, buffers, and islands that break up the expanse of the site and create more intimately scaled spaces within the larger park. Rows of trees guide circulation and provide consistent shade, while shrubs and grasses along the perimeter give the park a feeling of soft enclosure. A synthetic turf area is nestled into a corner of the park, providing a safe open space for younger children to play. A newly constructed ADA-accessible ramp links the upper and lower levels of the playground, and an elevated terrace with café tables acts as an overlook with views across the entire site.

The local skateboarding community was instrumental in the inclusion of a skate park within Ocean Hill Playground. Youth advocates attended meetings and provided input on the skate features they wanted in the park. They closely followed the progress of the project all the way through construction, and since it opened, they have been active in promoting the park and helping keep it clean. It has become a popular destination for the Brooklyn skateboarding community, known for its open layout, striking black banding, and sculptural red banks, ramps, and other vertical elements. The landings on top of the skate features provide great views across the rest of the park, while clear sightlines into the skate park from nearby seating areas promote inclusivity and allow people to watch the activity inside..