CHILDREN'S MEMORIAL INSTITUTE SENSORY PARK
Horse swings from repurposed tyres
A shadow box built from skeletal offcut sheets left by industrial laser-cutting
A quiet box lined in astroturf an enclosed, sound-dampened retreat
A triangular reflection box clad internally in mirrored Perspex
Large wind chimes from reclaimed metal piping
Meerkat tunnels from industrial sewage piping
A large jungle gym of wooden poles, hanging nests, macramé nets, and ropes
Whisper pipes routed across the park, connecting zones by voice
Giant wooden xylophone from reclaimed wood
Meditation labyrinth to slow down the pace
Each node was developed in consultation with the institute's therapists, with materials, scale, and mode of engagement set by what the children using the park would actually need.
Concept
jo&who the Johannesburg design partnership of Gawie Joubert and Jo Glanville was commissioned by the Children's Memorial Institute to design a sensory park for children with autism and related developmental needs. The conceptual frame, Forest Inhabitants, treats the park as an abandoned forest space gradually claimed by the children who come to use it. The brief asked the park to support a range of sensory and developmental needs across a single environment.
The concept answered with a zoned forest of ten distinct nodes, each calibrated to a different mode of engagement.
concept sketch
Build
jo&who led the build hands-on across roughly six months from concept to install, fabricating the park's components themselves where the work suited a two-person team and bringing in skilled artisans where specific expertise was needed. The studio handled design, material sourcing, on-site preparation, assembly, and the build.
A landscape designer was engaged to plan the planting alongside the build, with species selected to bloom in succession across the seasons extending the park's sensory range through colour and scent, and allowing the site to grow into the forest the concept calls for over time.
jo and Gawie from JO&WHO on site
jo excited to find a structure for the quiet box
quiet box installed
RECLAIMED
TYRES
coil springs
reclaimed wood
metal offcuts
Horse swings
Template
concept sketch
large mural
concept sketch
jungle gym
finding the right LAYOUT
CONCEPT SKETCH
In use
The park has been in continuous use at the Children's Memorial Institute since installation, integrated into the daily therapeutic and play life of the facility. The forest is climbed, sat in, rested in, and reconfigured by the children it was designed for. It does what the concept asked of it: a space to be claimed.