Aisling Maki - Memphis Daily News -

Shelby Farms Park’s Woodland Discovery Playground is in the running to be the first certified Sustainable Sites Initiative project in the world.

The playground, which opened to the public in April, is a pilot project of the Sustainable Sites Initiative – a collaborative among the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the U.S. Botanic Garden and the American Society of Landscape Architects. The initiative’s goal is to create more sustainable landscapes by bringing certifications similar to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) to outdoor spaces.

“We want the work that we do to be visionary and bold and world class, and I think getting the Sustainable Site Initiative Certification in some ways is just a formality because the playground is ambitious and bold and world-class,” said Jen Andrews, director of communications for Shelby Farms Park Conservancy. “But to have that certification – to be the first, or even the second – would be such an honor and a great way for Memphis to make the national news.”

The conservancy recently submitted the final required documentation in a comprehensive, detailed process that involved coordinating with the construction team and architect Sarah Weidner Astheimer of New York-based james corner field operations.

“It’s very thorough,” Andrews said. “What they’re trying to get to is this voluntary set of standards for outdoor spaces, sort of like LEED standards. So they ask you questions not only about how you’re going to maintain the outdoor space that you build, but how you construct it, your workforce hiring habits and whether you used public input for the design. Fortunately, we did all of that because it’s just kind of who we are, so it seemed like a good fit.”

According to information from “Dirt,” a blog of the American Society of Landscape Architects, more than 150 pilot projects throughout the United States, as well as in Iceland, Canada and Spain, are working toward the submittal and certification process. Nine of those are already in the preliminary submittal process.

Woodland Discovery Playground is vying with Novus International headquarters, a 9.5-acre site outside St. Louis that’s part of a University of Missouri research park, to be the first site to receive certification.

“It’s been a long and difficult but rewarding process,” Andrews said. “Honestly, just to be selected to participate in the pilot program was a huge deal for us. I don’t know that we could’ve predicted then that we might be the first one certified. We’re pretty ambitious and it seemed like a lofty goal, but we’ve worked really hard on this as a team to try to get all of this documentation done.”

For Andrews, the process included projects such as recording sounds on the playground to measure the site’s decibel levels, which she did using an iPhone app.

“It certainly makes you kind of plan and react to things you wouldn’t normally think about when you’re building a playground,” she said.

Situated in one of the largest urban parks in the nation, Woodland Discovery Playground’s innovative, accessible criteria – including adventure, discovery, health, nature, fun and surprises – was determined by the children it’s created to serve.

An extensive arbor links and surrounds six outdoor playrooms called “nests,” which make use of slides, swings, climbing areas, tunnels, sandy play areas and water features, all constructed with consideration for ecological and human well-being in a natural setting.

The arbor, made from custom-engineered steel, has been planted with native fast-growing plants and vines, designed to grow in different seasons for continuous visual and olfactory stimulation.

The playground’s floor is composed of Nike-Grind, a permeable material made from crushed, recycled athletic shoes. The area also includes sustainable hardwoods, crushed gravel and a substance made from the ground rubber soles of army boots. There are recycling bins throughout, and designated parking spaces for carpools and fuel-efficient vehicles.

On the edge of the playground lies an area planted with local tree species to help rid the landscape of an invasive species of privet and allow the growth of a forest under-story, which will allow dependent wildlife to return to the area.

“A lot of what we were doing and building with this playground was not just creating a super-fun place to play, but kind of setting the standard for what we do here at the park,” Andrews said. “We believe Shelby Farms Park will be the next great park of our time, and we intend to do things in a world-class way. This playground is already, we think, making people take notice of us. It is extremely innovative in the way it’s built – not just in the recycled and sustainable materials used, but in the play theory that went into it. It’s a very carefully designed, carefully constructed project.”