Marnebek School in Cranbourne, Victoria, recently constructed a new and exciting Sensory Garden as part of a further upgrade of their outdoor play space. The garden is connected to the Sensory Room at Marnebek.
Jeavons worked with the staff and students at Marnebek to develop a unique and highly detailed concept design for the space. The design is loosely based on ideas from the books “Imagine” by Alison Lester and “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. The space is designed to give the Marnebek students, many of whom have intellectual and sensory disabilities and are on the autism spectrum, the opportunity for investigation
and exploration of the five senses in connection with their
adjacent Sensory Room.
Jeavons managed the project through to completion, with full design documentation and contract administration. The project was constructed by Arcadia Landscapes and local artists Honeyweather & Speight (James Cattell & Dorelle Davidson) and sound artist HAPI (Herbert Jercher).
Design features include:
• Outdoor classroom with sensory table, seating, textured and visually stimulating surfaces, water feature and shelter
• Cubby with sensory materials, shelving and creative play
• Treehouse cubby nestled in the vegetation and detailed with natural materials
• 3D underwater sea mural with treasure chest with adjacent sandplay,; creek bed with hand operated water pump and rock boulders
• Bear cave connected with talkies to other cubbies for communication
• Plant selection to entice the senses
• Local natural materials
• Vertical green wall with scented and edible plants
• Interactive percussive, pitched and passive musical instruments
• Interactive sensory peek-a-boo wall with artistic windows for double-sided interaction
