Walter Ambrose Family Center Nature Playscape

DG2 Design is honored to collaborate with the Walter Ambrose Family Center and the Webster School District to reimagine and implement their Natural Playscape Master Plan. The original natural playscape, built 15 years ago, had deteriorated significantly, with more than half of it deemed unsafe for play and placed off-limits.

To address these challenges, DG2 worked closely with staff, children, and families to create an engaging, accessible, and dynamic natural play environment that preserves the site’s precious shade trees. The updated playscape incorporates durable materials to ensure longevity while featuring moveable and interactive components that encourage imaginative and hands-on play.

Guided by the school’s favorite quote, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better,” by Albert Einstein, the design reflects the goal of fostering passive, intellectual, social, active, and sensory-rich experiences. Key features include boulders, bioretention areas with educational decks, log pile climbing structures, disc swings, traditional swings, sandboxes, slide platforms, and spaces for future play components. This thoughtfully crafted playscape offers opportunities for exploration, learning, and fun for individuals of all ages — from 2 to 99.

STLCC Advanced Manufacturing Center

The 96,000-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Center at STLCC-Florissant Valley combines short-term career training and degree and certificate programs in STEM and advanced manufacturing. Students receive hands-on training in state-of-the-art labs, preparing them for careers in manufacturing, engineering, technology, and technical trades.

Before completion, the Advanced Manufacturing Center site was an underused parking lot for the College. This campus area now provides an entry plaza, two accessible roof terraces, and over 5,000 sf of vegetated green roofs. The entry plaza offers seating opportunities and collaboration with an arrangement of custom precast benches as well as places for individual study before or after classes. The entry plaza was designed to be flexible, allowing events and other school activities to have a home on campus. The two roof terraces provide outdoor classrooms for students with the same custom precast benches and landscape to complement the entry plaza. Several classroom and laboratory spaces will benefit from the natural beauty and seasonality of the native landscape of the green roofs outside of their windows. The green roofs are also functional, as they reduce the below-ground infrastructure needed to support a more sustainable approach to stormwater management.

The landscape palette primarily comprises a native, low-maintenance planting matrix that provides seasonal interest. Over 15 different native species of trees have been added to the campus, along with existing mature trees.

Hudson Elementary Playground

DG2 Design collaborated with Hudson Elementary, part of the Webster School District, to create a comprehensive playground Master Plan. Together, they successfully secured a municipal park grant and constructed a wheelchair-accessible, universally designed playground. This new play area replaces the outdated and inaccessible equipment with vibrant, inclusive features designed for children of all abilities.

Highlights include at-grade and elevated play elements, sign language panels, disc swings, a large multi-person spinner, and a variety of new swings. These are installed on a mix of resilient poured-in-place safety surfaces and engineered wood fiber for accessibility. A concrete seat wall borders one side of the playground, offering comfortable seating for rest and observation.

The design encourages imagination, physical challenges, and unstructured play, creating an engaging and welcoming space for all children.

Client Feedback: “All the kids, even the bigger ones, love playing on it, which is nice!” – Lisa Hilpert, Principal, Hudson Elementary.

Lemay Child & Family Center

Villa di Maria Natural Playground

DG2 Design collaborated with Villa di Maria Montessori and DJM Ecological to design a unique playground for children ages 2.5–12, grounded in Montessori principles. This thoughtfully crafted space nurtures each child’s journey toward academic excellence and empowers them to embrace life’s challenges with innovation, compassion, determination, grace, and kindness.

Nestled among mature shade trees and adjacent to a picnic shelter and outdoor classroom, the playground serves as a natural extension of the Montessori learning environment. Here, children engage with elements that inspire creativity, independence, and hands-on exploration—key aspects of Montessori education. Features like tree stumps, embankment slides, tunnels, a “stump jungle gym,” and willow sculptures encourage imaginative play and physical activity. Loose parts invite endless creativity, transforming into rocket ships, volcanoes, clubhouses, and factories in the children’s hands.

This outdoor time is often the highlight of a child’s day, fostering social interaction, exercise, and joyful discovery. It’s also a favorite topic at pick-up time: “Guess what we made on the playground today!”

Raintree School Natural Playground

Raintree School, a private kindergarten and preschool, is a Forest School rooted in the Reggio Emilia approach, dedicated to nurturing academic growth while fostering a lifelong love of learning through project-based exploration and child-directed play. DG2 Design collaborated with Raintree to create a natural playground and forest environment that truly embodies these principles.

In keeping with the Reggio Emilia philosophy, this outdoor space encourages children to take ownership of their learning by exploring and interacting with nature. Traditional “school playgrounds” often limit children with restrictive equipment and rules. Raintree’s natural playground, however, replaces plastic swings and slides with real branches to climb, mossy logs, craggy boulders, and native woodland features, allowing children to engage with authentic textures and forms found in Missouri’s natural landscapes.

This nature-focused environment inspires children to explore, collaborate, and problem-solve, turning the outdoors into an extension of the classroom. The playground invites imaginative play and curiosity-driven learning, key components of the Reggio Emilia approach. Since opening in June 2014, it has provided children with an inspiring space to learn, play, and grow, where every day brings new discoveries in their natural world.

Client Feedback

“DG2 was instrumental in helping us realize our vision.  They were attuned to every detail of our unique needs through design and installation and provided excellent ongoing support well beyond the scope and timeframe of the project.  They played an indispensable role in the creation of Missouri’s first Reggio Emilia inspired forest school.” – Ilya Eydelman, Head of School

Faith Academy School Playground

Faith Academy desired a playground that would
encapsulate the principles and spirit of their Montessoribased
education. They envisioned a space that would foster
children’s natural curiosity, creativity, and independence
through hands-on, nature-centered experiences. To bring
this vision to life, DG2 Design took on the task of transforming
Faith Academy’s existing, overgrown, and eroded slope into
a vibrant, imaginative natural playground that reflects these
Montessori values.

Embankment slides have been integrated into the natural
topography of the slope, offering an exhilarating way for
children to engage with the landscape. Trunk tree climbers,
fashioned from local storm-fallen trees, challenge children
to develop their physical coordination and strength
while promoting imaginative play. Similarly, willow tunnel
structures and tire swings made from natural materials
invite exploration and movement, encouraging children to
interact with their environment in diverse ways.

The overall design not only supports the development of the
children’s physical, cognitive, and social skills but also serves
as an attractive feature for prospective families. The natural
playground stands as a visual and functional representation
of Faith Academy’s commitment to holistic, nature-based
education. As a result, it enhances the school’s appeal,
helping to attract new students and families who value an
environment that encourages growth and learning through
nature.