Project Profile
Richardson Park
Where History Meets Imaginative Play
Anchored by a towering riverboat paddle steamer, Richardson Park in Goodna is now an unmissable destination for the Ipswich community — a place where the stories of the Brisbane and Bremer Rivers come alive through the hands and imaginations of the children who play there.
Details
Location: Goodna, QLD
Opened: July 2024
Project Partners:
- Ipswich City Council – Asset Owner
- TLCC – Project Delivery Principal Contractor
- Third Place Design – Playspace Design Specialist
- PARX Group – Equipment Fabrication and Professional Installation
Project Budget: $1.5 million
Project Overview
Richardson Park has long held a special place in the Ipswich community. Situated on the banks of the Brisbane River in Goodna, it carries with it the memory of a city shaped by trade, transport and the shallow-draft paddle steamers that once plied these waterways before the railway line opened in 1875.
The park upgrade, delivered under Principal Contractor TLCC, presented an opportunity to honour that heritage in a way that would resonate with the community for generations. Third Place Design was engaged as the Playspace Design Specialist to develop the play experience including a custom hero piece, honouring the heritage of the site.
Design Process
Third Place Design was engaged to develop a concept that would do justice to both the site and its community. Working closely with Ipswich City Council and Principal Contractor TLCC, our team developed an imaginative yet site-sensitive vision for the park’s central play element: a towering riverboat paddle steamer.
Council embraced the vision and a collaborative refinement process brought the design to life, settling on a forest green slide and a refined palette that tied the structure more closely to its natural surroundings. An independent certifier was then engaged to conduct a Safety in Design assessment.
The review identified a potential risk: children could gain unintended access to the roof of the riverboat via the slide access deck. Rather than treat this as a constraint, the team used it as a design challenge. The deck height was carefully reduced and the enclosed roofline extended, resolving the risk without compromising the structure’s ambition or its story.
With safety and creativity working hand-in-hand, the design was then developed into full technical drawings, with engineering and compliance checks completed before a single component was fabricated.
In close collaboration with PARX, the riverboat was manufactured as a single piece in a controlled facility, allowing every weld and finish to be meticulously inspected before the structure left the workshop. Once on site, it was craned into position in a single day, bolted to prepared footings, and followed swiftly by the installation of cladding, nets, panels and interactive features.
“The de-constructed steamboat turned play element is a nod to the 19th century era of transporting goods up and down the river between Brisbane and Ipswich, before the railway line opened in 1875… now an unmissable feature of this popular park, ready for Goodna’s youngest residents to climb and enjoy imaginative play.”
— Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding
The Finished Space
Standing 4.9 metres tall, the Riverboat Paddle Steamer is an unmissable presence in the park and an irresistible invitation to explore. Twin smokestacks rise above the play space, stylised paddle wheels flank the hull and acrylic portholes allow sightlines through the structure, keeping the space feeling open and safe without sacrificing the sense of adventure.
Every material was chosen for durability in a riverside environment: epoxy-painted steel, powder-coated aluminium and stainless steel mesh form the bones of the structure, while interactive features — talk tubes, crawl tunnels, sensory panels and a kinetic ship’s wheel that triggers nautical soundscapes as it turns — bring the play narrative to life at every level.
Children are invited into a world of river stories. Whether steering from the helm, crawling through the hull or exploring the broader park, the play experience is rich with imagination and rooted in place.
Alongside the main structure, a quieter garden area offers a different kind of adventure — rocky mounds, sandstone blocks and a hand-carved timber canoe invite nature-based exploration that connects children to the land and its stories. A basket swing, spinners and an inclusive orbit round out the offering, welcoming a wide range of play styles, abilities and ages.
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