A design for a new playground in Woodruff Park has been chosen.  Playable 10, in partnership with Atlanta’s Taskforce on Play (ATOP) and the Georgia Institute of Technology, sponsored an international design competition for an inventive playground design for Woodruff Park.

Jeff Santos, a Canadian video game designer, took top honors and Bank of America will support the 2011 construction of his design, which will be refined by minds from Georgia Tech. The competition drew entries from all over the world including Krakow, Australia, Italy, Singapore, and Estonia, as well as a large number of submissions from UGA’s School of Environmental Design.

The new playground follows other improvements that have been made to the park over the last few years. Central Atlanta Progress (CAP) and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District (ADID) have set their sights on making Woodruff Park the downtown destination for healthy activity.

Recent improvements include the Woodruff Park Recreation and Reading Room and the recently installed music system, as well as other new amenities like exercise and recreation equipment and Walk For Lunch programming.  The judges in the Playable 10 competition rated each entry on playability, originality, sustainability, feasibility, accessibility, how well it appeals to various age groups, and how well it inspires movement. For more information about the contest, as well as pictures of the runner-up designs, visit playabledesign.com.