The courtyard and interior also play a part in a child’s life
A child goes out to the yard in the morning, during walks, at recess, and after classes. Somewhere they run with other children, somewhere they spend a long time building a single route, hiding, observing plants, or just sitting next to a friend.
The street, hall, recreation area, and courtyard are not just a backdrop for the school day. These are places where children learn to be independent, negotiate, try new things, and notice what is happening around them.
We design spaces with diverse possibilities. They offer both movement and calm, clear landmarks, and room for personal play. A child isn’t offered a single "correct" scenario — they can choose.
The street, hall, recreation area, and courtyard are not just a backdrop for the school day. These are places where children learn to be independent, negotiate, try new things, and notice what is happening around them.
We design spaces with diverse possibilities. They offer both movement and calm, clear landmarks, and room for personal play. A child isn’t offered a single "correct" scenario — they can choose.
You can play your own way
Children don’t just repeat ready-made actions. They invent rules, team up, change routes, and return to the same object in different ways.
There is space for every age
For a toddler, proximity to an adult and a comprehensible scale are important. For a schoolchild — the opportunity to test their strength and negotiate with others. The space can account for these differences without rigidly dividing the area into separate "boxes."
Nature stays close by
Trees, grass, shade, topography, water, seasonal changes — these aren’t just decorations. They become part of the play, observation, and daily life of children.
It’s clear for adults how to use the territory
Teachers need to see the group and quickly orient themselves on the site. Parents need to wait calmly for their child. We take into account visibility, routes, waiting areas, and the usage schedule of the territory.
We start with how the institution lives
"Cheharda" is an architectural bureau specializing in natural play and educational spaces. We work with new schools and kindergartens, existing institutions, campuses, and educational centers.
Before starting work, we study the site and the task: how children spend time outdoors, where the main routes are, what zones already exist, and what teachers and children are missing. Then we create a concept, develop the project, manufacture elements, organize delivery and installation, prepare the necessary documents, and hand over the facility.
Before starting work, we study the site and the task: how children spend time outdoors, where the main routes are, what zones already exist, and what teachers and children are missing. Then we create a concept, develop the project, manufacture elements, organize delivery and installation, prepare the necessary documents, and hand over the facility.
- Territory and initial data analysis
- Concept and play scenarios
- Architectural and landscape design
- Working documentation
- Material selection and play element development
- Manufacturing
- Delivery and installation
- Certification of children's play equipment
- Warranty service in accordance with the contract terms
Territory and interior work together
KINDERGARTEN TERRITORIES
Spaces for daily walks: for movement, sensory play, quiet observation, communication, and play near a teacher.
SCHOOL YARDS AND CAMPUSES
Territories for recess, walks, active play, communication, outdoor classes, and relaxation between lessons.
EDUCATIONAL ROUTES
Paths, play objects, natural zones, and observation points through which a child gradually discovers the territory.
PLAY INTERIORS
Zones in recreation areas, halls, libraries, children’s clubs, and educational centers: for play, reading, talking, waiting, and moving.
SPACES FOR CHILDREN OF DIFFERENT AGES
An environment where you can choose the level of complexity, activity, and independence — and not outgrow it in a single school year.
Not everything important happens at a desk
Sometimes a child needs to climb higher. Sometimes — to spend a long time building something out of twigs, arguing with friends about the rules, or quietly watching how the water changes in puddles after the rain.
In such moments, observation skills, independence, imagination, and the ability to be with others emerge. A space cannot teach everything instead of an adult, but it can give a child a reason to try, to choose, and not to be afraid of making mistakes.
That is why our projects feature not only clear play elements but also free zones, natural materials, different levels of complexity, and the opportunity to change the scenario.
In such moments, observation skills, independence, imagination, and the ability to be with others emerge. A space cannot teach everything instead of an adult, but it can give a child a reason to try, to choose, and not to be afraid of making mistakes.
That is why our projects feature not only clear play elements but also free zones, natural materials, different levels of complexity, and the opportunity to change the scenario.
We work with various educational formats
Private schools
Spaces that continue the school’s educational program and give children a place for independent life outside of lessons.
Kindergartens
An environment for daily movement, sensory experience, observation, quiet play, and cooperative play.
Educational centers and campuses
Play and public spaces between buildings, along routes, in courtyards, and in common interiors.
Gymnasiums and lyceums
Territories for recess, communication, active play, sports, project work, and relaxation.
Additional education centers
Spaces where a child can continue to explore, build, discuss, and invent after class.
Spaces where a child finds an activity on their own
MULTIFUNCTIONAL EDUCATIONAL COMPLEX AT THE REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY LYCEUM NAMED AFTER V. I. DOLGIKH
Moscow Region
2023
When creating the children's playground on the lyceum's territory, the architects wanted to reflect the relationship between humanity and metals, relying on ideas related to the role of metals in the development of civilization:
Metals have shaped human perception of "material." In the process of interacting with them, people learned to use the unique properties of metal.
The project took into account:
— the aesthetic appeal of metals. Metal products are widely used in architecture and urban landscaping.
They can be decorative elements, fences, sculptures, and monuments.
— the durability of metals. Metal products are long-lasting, so they can be used as evidence of the city's historical development, reflecting its culture and achievements in different eras.
— the influence of metals on social progress. The emergence of metal tools contributed not only to technical progress (in agriculture, construction, crafts) but also to social progress — the formation of the first states coincides with the beginning of the Bronze Age.
Composition of 10 playgrounds
Moscow Region
2023
When creating the children's playground on the lyceum's territory, the architects wanted to reflect the relationship between humanity and metals, relying on ideas related to the role of metals in the development of civilization:
Metals have shaped human perception of "material." In the process of interacting with them, people learned to use the unique properties of metal.
The project took into account:
— the aesthetic appeal of metals. Metal products are widely used in architecture and urban landscaping.
They can be decorative elements, fences, sculptures, and monuments.
— the durability of metals. Metal products are long-lasting, so they can be used as evidence of the city's historical development, reflecting its culture and achievements in different eras.
— the influence of metals on social progress. The emergence of metal tools contributed not only to technical progress (in agriculture, construction, crafts) but also to social progress — the formation of the first states coincides with the beginning of the Bronze Age.
Composition of 10 playgrounds
MULTIFUNCTIONAL EDUCATIONAL COMPLEX AT THE REGIONAL GYMNASIUM NAMED AFTER E. M. PRIMAKOV
Moscow Region
2023
"Cheharda Bureau" developed and implemented a project for playgrounds for the kindergarten attached to the gymnasium and additional recreation zones for school students. We moved away from the concept commonly accepted in kindergartens, where there are small identical playgrounds for each group. Instead, "Cheharda" created three thematic playgrounds, different in content and appearance.
Here there are swings, slides, stumps and logs for active play, cognitive and scientific elements, musical instruments, tactile walls and floor tactile elements, shelters for hiding and resting...
We took into account the features and needs of children of different ages and provided elements for different types of activities and movement necessary for the development of the child's brain, according to the principles of the neurodynamic approach and the latest discoveries in the field of neuropsychology. As a result, we got a developing space where children do not get bored: they can take turns walking on different playgrounds, each time doing something new. To separate the groups from each other, the space is zoned by canopies that do not prevent children from passing through, and by geoplastics.
3 playgrounds
Moscow Region
2023
"Cheharda Bureau" developed and implemented a project for playgrounds for the kindergarten attached to the gymnasium and additional recreation zones for school students. We moved away from the concept commonly accepted in kindergartens, where there are small identical playgrounds for each group. Instead, "Cheharda" created three thematic playgrounds, different in content and appearance.
Here there are swings, slides, stumps and logs for active play, cognitive and scientific elements, musical instruments, tactile walls and floor tactile elements, shelters for hiding and resting...
We took into account the features and needs of children of different ages and provided elements for different types of activities and movement necessary for the development of the child's brain, according to the principles of the neurodynamic approach and the latest discoveries in the field of neuropsychology. As a result, we got a developing space where children do not get bored: they can take turns walking on different playgrounds, each time doing something new. To separate the groups from each other, the space is zoned by canopies that do not prevent children from passing through, and by geoplastics.
3 playgrounds
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It begins in the project
Height, surfaces, distances, connections, materials, site visibility, children’s routes — all of this affects safety. We address these issues simultaneously with the concept development, so that an interesting game doesn’t turn into a set of random solutions.
For every implemented facility, the bureau prepares a set of documents required for handover. Depending on the scope of the project, this includes documents for children’s play equipment, materials, and completed works:
For every implemented facility, the bureau prepares a set of documents required for handover. Depending on the scope of the project, this includes documents for children’s play equipment, materials, and completed works:
- Certificate for children’s play equipment
- Product and play element passports
- Declarations of conformity
- Documents for used materials
- As-built and accompanying documentation
Work should not disrupt the institution’s life
The territory does not become empty while the project is underway.
Before implementation begins, we discuss access to the site, routes for children and staff, deliveries, noisy work, and possible installation periods with the institution’s team. This allows us to organize the process taking into account how the school or kindergarten operates.
The order, restrictions, and work schedule are determined individually for each project.
Before implementation begins, we discuss access to the site, routes for children and staff, deliveries, noisy work, and possible installation periods with the institution’s team. This allows us to organize the process taking into account how the school or kindergarten operates.
The order, restrictions, and work schedule are determined individually for each project.
From the first conversation to the finished space
Discussing the task
We find out how the institution is organized, who will use the territory, what is important to the teachers, and what format of work is needed.
Studying the site
We look at the topography, trees, routes, visibility, existing zones, group schedules, and the potential of the territory.
Creating the concept
We form the image of the space, play and educational scenarios, zoning, materials, and the connection with the institution’s architecture.
Designing and approving
We develop design and working solutions, work out structures and materials, and coordinate key stages with the client and related specialists.
Manufacturing and installation
We manufacture elements, organize delivery, coordinate the work schedule, and perform installation.
Handing over the facility
We conduct a final inspection, hand over the necessary set of documents, and provide warranty obligations in accordance with the contract terms.
We remember who we are designing for
When an adult looks at a territory, they see meters, surfaces, routes, and requirements. A child sees something else: a branch to hide behind, a slope they want to climb, a stone that becomes a ship, and a path no one has noticed yet.
Both perspectives are important in a project. Architects, designers, engineers, technologists, production, and installation specialists work on the space. When developing play scenarios, the bureau consults with a child psychologist.
We combine play, architecture, and nature in a way that makes the space buildable, safe to use, and endlessly discoverable.
Both perspectives are important in a project. Architects, designers, engineers, technologists, production, and installation specialists work on the space. When developing play scenarios, the bureau consults with a child psychologist.
We combine play, architecture, and nature in a way that makes the space buildable, safe to use, and endlessly discoverable.
Questions and Answers
Yes. We can start with a separate playground, entrance zone, route, courtyard, recreation area, or a section for a specific age group. At the same time, we will look at how the new space connects with the institution’s territory as a whole.
Yes. A concept helps to see the future environment as a whole, define scenarios, zones, and the sequence of further work. If necessary, the bureau will continue the project through to production and installation.
Yes. Before starting work, we discuss the institution’s schedule, access to the territory, children’s routes, the academic timetable, and possible installation periods. The implementation plan is determined individually for each project.
Yes. We design play interiors and zones in recreation areas, halls, libraries, children’s clubs, and educational centers.
The set of documentation depends on the project and the contract. For an implemented facility, certificates for children’s play equipment, product passports, declarations of conformity, material documents, and as-built documentation may be issued.
The bureau can implement the project fully: manufacture elements, organize delivery, and perform installation. The specific scope of work is determined after reviewing the task.
The cost depends on the scope of work, materials, site features, logistics, installation, and project tasks. After the first conversation, we will suggest a suitable format for cooperation.
Warranty service is provided in accordance with the terms of the contract.
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