The place

Play Earth Park Naturing Forest is the initiative of Japanese outdoor technical clothing company, Goldwin. A 40 hectare nature-themed public park in Nanto City, Toyama prefecture on the site of disused rice paddy fields it is due to open in summer 2027. The park will offer immersive experiences for children and adults that connect visitors to nature.

The brief

Play Earth Park is intended to embody the Goldwin’s Play Earth vision as a place where both children and adults can engage with the natural world in meaningful ways through play in dynamic and beautiful landscape settings. We are working closely with Takano Landscape Planning, our longtime collaborator at Tokachi Millennium Forest, on the park’s design, which emphasises sustainability and harmony with the environment. Goldwin anticipates that the park will attract between 1 to 1.5 million visitors annually.

The design

The landscape design seeks to integrate the diverse natural features of the area — lakes, hills, forests, and rice fields – into a cohesive environment with long term strategies for climate and biodiversity resilience. The industrial rice paddies are recontoured to integrate a new lake, while swales provide a passive drainage system. The site is reforested to provide a climate controlled environment for people, animals and plants. A large ornamental garden designed to highlight the dynamism of the terrain and featuring a wide range of Japanese native plants is framed by views of forest, wetland, lake, and distant mountains.

Drawing on the traditional Japanese concept of the “72 seasons,” the garden is planted with species attuned to local soil, climate, and environmental conditions. We are working alongside a team of six architectural practices including Lina Ghotmeh, Nori Architects, Shinsoken and Assemble to seat a number of new buildings into the site including an observatory, an activity centre and a campsite. Midori Shintani, formerly Head Gardener at Tokachi Millennium Forest, is director of horticulture for the project.