ARC Park by Urbánika is a community park located at the center of a mixed-use development in Chihuahua, northern Mexico. Named for Activity, Recreation and Community, the park serves as the social heart of the complex, bringing together spaces for play, sport, events, and everyday gathering within a landscape adapted to the Chihuahuan Desert climate.
The program includes a children’s play area, café, service areas, pickleball, basketball, table tennis, and volleyball courts, outdoor play spaces, and a multipurpose area for events and concerts. Shaded areas and spaces for social interaction complement the sports facilities, with the overall layout intended to encourage community gathering, physical activity, and health.
the playground connects the sports area with the public space | all images ©Federico Campos, Santiago Ruiz
House-like concrete volumes form ARC Park’s main play area
The children’s play area forms the main public space within ARC Park. It is organized around a series of small, house-like concrete volumes, each offering a different type of spatial and physical experience. The first structure is designed for climbing and scaling, the second encourages descent, while the third provides a space for meeting and interaction.
A central platform connects and articulates the different volumes, creating a continuous play environment. With this configuration, Urbánika’s design team aims to stimulate imagination and free play, while supporting social, motor, cognitive, and sensory development. The structures provide a framework for play that can be completed through the children’s own interpretation and use.
The park’s recreational program extends beyond the play area. Pickleball courts are distinguished by different colors to facilitate identification and encourage a sense of ownership and appropriation among users. A fire pit provides a gathering point during the cold winter months, while a pet shower and public restrooms complete the supporting facilities.
pickleball courts use different colors to distinguish the recreational spaces
More than 120 trees establish a landscape in transformation
Landscape design forms an integral part of the park’s response to the desert climate. More than 120 trees were planted throughout the site, including eldarica pines, oak trees, cypress trees, and lilacs. The species were selected for their adaptability to the Chihuahuan Desert and their low maintenance requirements.
The vegetation is intended to develop alongside the park’s built elements. As the trees mature, their growing canopy will gradually integrate the children’s concrete structures into the landscape and extend the areas of shade across the site.
ARC Park is therefore conceived as a landscape that changes over time. Its environmental performance and spatial qualities are expected to evolve as the vegetation matures, providing increasing shade and supporting the daily use of the park by surrounding residents, visitors, children, and their caregivers.
the concrete play volumes frame a continuous environment for free play
shaded areas are distributed throughout the park for gathering and rest
each structure offers a different physical and spatial experience
concrete volumes provide an open framework for children’s interpretation and use
project info:
name: ARC Park
architect: Urbánika
design team: Federico Campos, Andrés Elías, Oscar Chávez
collaborators: Zuleika Solís, Raúl Flores, Paulina Ruiz, Javier Estrada, Gabriel Cháirez
location: Chihuahua, México
area: 6,000 sqm
photographers: Federico Campos, Santiago Ruiz
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edited by: Christina Vergopoulou | designboom
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