Wearthy’s award-winning registered landscape architect Dan Rimes is designing bespoke, tailored playgrounds that are paving the way for the future of play, worthy of all children.

Acclaimed landscape architect Dan Rimes has created more than 100 unique play spaces across Australia with Wearthy, including a number of award-winning designs. One of those, POD Early School, secured the team an Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) award in 2022. 

His signature work is renowned for impeccable attention to detail, a keen eye for colour, and bringing nature into his designs. This stems from a deep appreciation for the outdoor, in line with Wearthy’s place as the number one advocates of play, providing bespoke play environments that ignite creativity and curiosity in children.

In particular, his innovative playground designs have become the framework for creating narrative-based play spaces such as Happy Hearts Childcare and Kindergarten, Goodna, which features a hero-hive structure that represents a gathering space.

“I’ve designed spaces for prestigious clients all around the world, from royal families in the UAE to waterfront homes on the Gold Coast, but there is nothing like creating a natural playground that fosters play among the future generation,” says Rimes. 

“Children are the world’s best clients.

“They yearn for innovation and push us to create environments
that fulfil a diversity of needs.

“Play represents an open-ended brief, opportunities for the unexpected
and enriching outcomes.”

When Wearthy welcomed Rimes to its team of expert designers, it was excited by the opportunities that would come from adding such a globally renowned architect.

Rimes’ designs are bespoke and tailored for each centre, reinforcing Wearthy’s mission to ignite creativity and curiosity in children.  

According to founder of Wearthy Lukas Ritson, Rimes’ expert innovation, coupled with a transformative approach to playground design, have resulted in the development of an array of incredible playgrounds that provide limitless learning opportunities, particularly with the Happy Hearts project.

“Dan’s approach to the Happy Heart’s playground helped to establish a unique sense of secluded play and social play, with the space doubling as an outdoor playground and learning space,” says Ritson.

“Keeping children curious, creative and confident through offering the adventurous childhood they deserve is at the heart of all of our designs.

“That’s why having incredible designers including Dan is so important – it allows us to create holistic experiences for children that foster connection, encourage resilience, and cultivate passion.”

Sharing Wearthy’s mission to provide children with an opportunity to flourish and thrive within sensory play environments, Rimes has designed some of the nation’s most innovative playgrounds, bringing to life incredible nature-play-based playgrounds that transform the way in which children experience play.

“I’ve always been inspired by the natural world and have worked to include organic and native materials in my designs, so when I was approached to become part of the Wearthy team, I knew it would be a genuine fit,” says Rimes. 

“By incorporating natural and native elements into play spaces, [this] enables children to conduct sensory exploration that forms the basis for understanding the world around them, while also providing a chance to care for the environment.” 

Reflecting on his past work with Wearthy, his favourite projects have been those that celebrate the history of the area in which the play space is being built. 

“When designing the Amaze Early Education Daycare and Childcare Centre playground in Beaudesert, we wanted it to reflect the land’s history,” says Rimes. 

 “Amaze’s playground is an important celebration of the local Indigenous influence and original homestead on the land. 

“It honours the history and character of the area, and how the space has evolved, to inspire meaningful play.”

Photography: Cameron Murchison and Amaze Education

See also how Buchan completed Australia’s first standalone children’s library located in the centre of the Queensland city of Ipswich.