Parrot Play to take flight at Queens Park West Playground
Media Release
Award-winning Landscape Architecture firm, Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TCL) will team up with award-winning Australian artist Emily Floyd to design the new Queens Park West Playground. The collaboration, selected by Moonee Valley City Council (MVCC) as the winners of a Playground design competition, will bring parrots, play and a love of nature together in an imaginative new playground for Moonee Valley families, set to open late 2027.
MVCC selected landscape architecture practice TCL, in collaboration with acclaimed Australian artist Emily Floyd, as the winner of the design competition which took place in November 2025. Facilitated by leading design consultancy CityLab, in partnership with Council, the competition invited registrations of interest from organisations with the skills and experience to help reimagine the popular playground. Following an assessment of capability and capacity, three highly skilled competitors were shortlisted and commissioned to develop concept designs.
Floyd and TCL’s winning concept, Parrot Play, stood out for its imaginative response to the unique character of Queens Park, taking inspiration from the colourful parrots that call the park home and exploring themes of ecology, family and kinship through artful play.
The winning concept was selected by an expert jury comprising Georgia Chisholm, Landscape Architecture Advisor, Office of the Victorian Government Architect; Jocelyn Chiew, strategic urban design consultant; Jade Niklai, Former Head of Visual and Public Art, Moonee Valley City Council; and Mel Dodd, Dean of Monash Art, Design and Architecture.
Artist Emily Floyd said: “Parrots are an important indicator of biodiversity, connected to the plants, animals, microorganisms and ecosystems that make up the natural environment around them. This concept brings these connections to life through sculptural parrots, nested play experiences and a lush garden setting.”
Emily Floyd is an Australian artist whose practice spans public art, sculpture and printmaking. With a family background in traditional toy making, Floyd grew up learning the craft and machinery skills associated with making wooden toys, influences that continue to feature in her sculptural work.
Her work can be found in public spaces across Australia and internationally, and her selection for Queens Park West builds on her connection with Moonee Valley through The Playground Project Melbourne, the blockbuster exhibition presented by Incinerator Gallery in 2025 with significant local and international partners.
Floyd’s Parrot Play design aims to create a welcoming and imaginative destination where children and families can explore, move, create and play together. It responds to existing pathways and arrival points while anticipating new connections with the upcoming café and lawn spaces.
Council consulted with the community in May and June 2025 to gather ideas for the playground and better understand what matters most to local families, children and park users. This feedback helped shape the brief for the design competition, providing the shortlisted artists and designers with clear community priorities to respond to in their concepts. Therefore, the playground has been designed with inclusion at its heart. It will support a broad range of physical, cognitive, social, communication and sensory needs, creating opportunities for children of different abilities to play alongside one another in equitable, engaging and flexible ways.
Moonee Valley City Council Mayor, Dr Rose Iser thanked the expert jury for their decision and said “the winning concept offered an exciting opportunity to reimagine one of Queens Park’s much-loved community spaces.”
The next phase of the project will involve refining the design with Emily Floyd and TCL, with further community consultation to help shape other elements of the playground taking place 24 September to 29 October 2026.
The redevelopment will create a new play destination for children and families while strengthening Queens Park’s role as a place to connect with nature, community and each other.
Image credit: TCL + Emily Floyd
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