Having acquired extensive experience designing spaces for healthy living through our fitness brand work, S&A has undertaken an R&D project to bring this knowledge to people of all income levels. Studies show that public open space is critical to health and wellness, and that people are much more likely to stick with a fitness program if peers are engaged in exercise together.
To this end, our Park for Work project seeks to apply cutting-edge fitness design to outdoor public spaces. Our kit of parts can be adapted to a variety of conditions, particularly underutilized urban spaces that are not suitable to verdant parks. We are currently seeking community partners interested in installing a Park for Work project to activate their public spaces.
For our study, we chose three disparate sites to show how the elements we have developed can be deployed under different urban conditions and for a wide variety of fitness levels. Park for Work, however, is more than a kit of parts. It is a process for gathering stakeholders together around a common goal. By designing an adaptable kit of parts, people can begin to imagine how to create a public space that brings people together around health and wellness.