In English | ISSUE 3/2022
New park in Vantaa’s Kivistö area
The new functional and urban park with children’s playgrounds and lounging areas as well as a versatile stormwater channel running through it, was given the name Timanttikiteenpuisto – Diamond Crystal Park. The narrow park joins the adjacent areas seamlessly, including the Aurinkokivi School yard, Lipunkantajanpuisto (Flag-Bearer Park) and properties with boundaries to the park. The park features several unique structures and details. All the materials and vegetations of the park share the same consistent colour scheme. Timanttikiteenpuisto Park was opened in the summer of 2021.
The activities are concentrated in the park square which among other playground equipment also offers a sculpture in the shape of a diamond crystal that serves as a climbing frame. The sculpture climber is a concrete structure with a pour-in-place playground surface. The patterning on the paved surface of the park square has been created using concrete stones of different shades of colour, including glistening granite stones.
The stormwater channel running through the park provides a flood route for the nearby area. Three stepped, cast-in-situ concrete dams divide the stormwater channel into sections. The aggregate in the concrete mix used in the dams is blue kyanite-quartzite and a turquoise dye was also added in the mix. The colour of the dams becomes brighter and deeper as they get wet. The top surfaces of the concrete dam structures are polished. A basin for standing water is built between the two topmost dams using pebble stones. A cast-in-situ concrete staircase running down to the basin also serves as a lounging structure.
A band of vegetation with several different species and shapes of ornamental grasses, perennials and shrubs runs along the edges of the square, the stormwater channel and the park passage. The park, which is almost half a hectare in size, was planted with eight different tree species, seven species of shrubs, fifteen varieties of perennials, ten varieties of ornamental grasses as well as four bulbous varieties.
