Meramec State Park Playgrounds

Atlas Public Schools Playground

St. Louis, MO

DG2 Design was tasked with designing a playground for Atlas Elementary, a new school in downtown St. Louis, as part of their commitment to preparing students for a lifetime of exploration. Atlas Public Schools aims to educate the whole child through rigorous academics and real-world experiences. The playground is designed to encourage imagination, physical challenges, and free play.

Unlike traditional playground concepts, the playground features Berliner spatial nets, which stimulate cognitive processes in children and encourage decision-making in a playful way. The design balances safety with opportunities for children to push their boundaries and learn through play.

Located under the cover of a previously covered parking lot, the playground offers various play options, including two DNA Towers with climbing features and a slide, a Tri climbing tower with a tube slide, and a three-dimensional chess board, all on an accessible artificial turf surface.

This playground, along with the renovation project to adaptively reuse a previously vacant building, will meet the evolving needs of the school as it grows over the next five years. The growth strategy includes adding a new grade each year until the school reaches 600 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Mitchell Park Master Plan

Kirkwood, MO

DG2 Design worked with the City of Kirkwood to update the Mitchell Park master plan.  Following the St. Louis County Municipal Parks Grant requirements and based on the community outreach efforts and stakeholder input, DG2 developed the following key goals and objectives for Mitchell Park improvements.

ADA Compliance: Proposed improvements and amenities will be designed to meet ADA requirements, ensuring equal access to recreational activities for all park users.

Park Drainage: Addressing drainage issues is a primary concern that must be resolved in coordination with other park improvements. Sculpting the natural grade and installing rain gardens will help redirect water flow away from active areas, preventing waterlogging.

Preserving Park Character: Community members express a strong desire to maintain the park’s overall character, including its central open lawn, lush canopy, and intimate atmosphere. A balance between active and passive engagement opportunities will be maintained.

Enhancing Play Opportunities: Parents and children want more opportunities for both formal and informal play. Integrating swings and landscape elements for climbing and skipping into the park design will cater to these desires. Additionally, a small-footprint mist element will be added to provide a fun way to cool off on warm days.

Landscape Improvements & Tree Canopy Preservation: Plantings that attract pollinators, showcase seasonality, and offer educational opportunities will be integrated into the park’s landscape design. A careful assessment of tree health will be conducted to ensure the long-term vitality of the park’s tree canopy. Declining trees will be replaced, while healthy ones will be preserved.

Preserving Central Open Space: The central open lawn, a popular area among park visitors, will be preserved and enhanced through improvements to grading and drainage, resulting in a more usable space throughout the year.

By addressing these goals and objectives, Mitchell Park will be transformed into a more inclusive, sustainable, and enjoyable recreational space for the community to enjoy.

Belleview Farm Park Master Plan

The Belleview Farm, a historic 19th-century farmstead, was donated to St. Louis County by Harold K. Donnelly, with the deed specifying that the developed area must be maintained as a public park and the undeveloped portion as a wildlife and nature preserve. The St. Louis County Historic Buildings Commission interpreted the deed to also require the preservation of the main house, stone house, and winery as historic landmarks.

DG2 Design collaborated with the City of Wildwood and St. Louis County to create a Master Plan for the park. The 100-acre site, which includes pastures, meadows, and mature woodlands, offers dramatic topography with scenic views of the Meramec River valley. The design process prioritized preserving the historic structures and natural beauty while providing a destination for passive recreation. Extensive site analysis, including the documentation of historic and natural features, as well as topographical and drainage considerations, guided the design decisions to minimize environmental impact. Due to limited funding, the project is currently in a protection and restoration phase.

Kinetic Park

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!”

Fogerty Park Master Plan and Phase One

DG2 Design developed a comprehensive Master Plan and phase one construction documents for the revitalization of Fogerty Park in University City, MO. Established in 1928, Fogerty Park has long served the community from its location on 82nd Boulevard in northern University City. With changing needs and aging amenities, the time had come to rejuvenate this neighborhood park to better meet modern standards.

Our design team worked closely with City staff, local residents, and stakeholders to shape the vision for this 11-acre urban site, located adjacent to an elementary school. Through a combination of public online surveys, engagement workshops, and community presentations, we gathered valuable input to guide the final concept. Residents expressed a desire for environmental enhancements, recreational upgrades, and infrastructure improvements.

The plan reflects the community’s vision for an environmentally sustainable and dynamic space. Key proposed features include community garden plots, native plantings, educational signage, permeable pavement, and an outdoor classroom. These elements promote low-impact education and enhance the park’s landscape, supporting a healthy and interactive environment for all ages.

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.