Williamsburg’s new Domino Park delivers one of the most striking and innovative playgrounds in New York City. Designed by renowned artist Mark Reigelman, Domino Park Playground, commonly referred to as Sweetwater, pays homage to the Domino Sugar Factory and the history of the sugar manufacturing with each portion taking children through a fun-filled representation of the sugar refining process.
Through their playground journey, young-at-heart playground visitors will climb ramps, clamber through tubes, brave conveyer belts and catapult out slides, all the while taking in the unrivaled views of the historic site, Williamsburg bridge and the Manhattan skyline. Embarking through three stages– Sugarcane Cabin, Sweetwater Silo and Sugar Cube Centrifuge, kids will be chopped and discarded from an industrial cabin, filtered into sweet water syrup, and emerge as perfectly refined raw sugar.
Tying in the preserved industrial artifacts and elements from the site, Reigelman’s vibrant yellow, turquoise, green and brushed metal colors echo the original factory palette. Reused wood from factory floors appear on the façade of the elevated cabin alongside brightly colored valve wheels cast from the original factory artifacts which are dispersed throughout the site. The three primary structures, an elevated cabin, towering silo and an industrial container along with Stainless steel slides, climbers and catwalks are all reminiscent of the original factory’s complex architecture and infrastructure.
Domino Park Playground was inspired by the ingenuity of the Industrial age, the Sugar refining process and the incredible site of the former Domino factory. The playground is not a celebration of sugar, but a reflection of industrial infrastructure that promotes physical activity, social engagement and a reminder of the unique history of the Domino Waterfront. With a sugary color pallet, dynamic graphics, and an industrial visual narrative Domino Park Playground sets children and adults alike into a space that ignites the adventurous spirit.
Domino Park is an unrivaled quarter-mile long public park located just north of the Williamsburg Bridge that celebrates the history of one of New York’s most iconic industrial waterfront sites. The park itself is Conceived in partnership with landscape architecture firm James Corner Field Operations, the lead designers of the High Line. At the center of New York’s newest waterfront recreation public space is Domino Park Playground. The playground is accessible for park goers and, as the highest point in the park, offers unrivaled views of the Manhattan skyline, the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges and the rest of Domino Park.
Once entering the playground, kids (and adults) must climb a steep ramp into the Sugarcube cabin, either to be ejected out as sugarcane sludge tube or trudge on to Sweetwater silo. Netting, ropes and sugar balls assist in climbing to the top of the silo, where breath taking views await as well as a precipitous chute for Sweetwater overflow. A long catwalk extends from Sweetwater silo to Sugar Cube Centrifuge with industrial pipe-like climbers, talking tubes and spinning valve wheels underneath. The Sugar Cube centrifuge marks the end of the sugar process, neatly packing kids into Domino shaped sugar cubes to be gently cast out onto soft turf.