School canopy on high

The open-air play area, located on a third-floor terrace, allows natural light while also offering safety and protection for the students. Photos: Marvel Architects

This open-air play area is located on a third-floor terrace at the KIPP charter school in New York City’s Bronx, Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood. Its grounding is defined by the six-story brick buildings that surround this space and the virtually transparent mesh overhead. The building is used as both an elementary and middle school with shared specialty classrooms in a compact geometry that expresses the individual identity of each school.

“The elevated train tracks across the front provided a unique design challenge for the facade design, acoustics and maximizing natural light,” write the architects of record, Marvel Architects, in its description of the project.

Green artificial turf field enclosed by purple barriers, with a netted canopy above and brick buildings in the background.

Diagonally placed steel frames (colored red) provide the edges where stainless steel mesh completes the enclosure that prevents balls or play items escaping from the rooftop playground into its urban setting. Designed and engineered by the Lightweight Structures Group (LSG) of TYLin, the 2-inch mesh netting has “enough shape that it becomes a tensile structure able to resist snow and wind loading,” says Nic Goldsmith, FAIA, founding director of the LSG.

Bright green synthetic grass covers the ground, bordered by blue padded walls. A hopscotch pattern in white is visible, with red beams framing the space.

The mesh enclosure seems to disappear, allowing children freedom of movement as if the space were contained at a street-level playground. Views in a 180-degree panorama connect the active area to the buildings nearby and help convey a sense of safety.