MARANT Project Receives 2025 CSLA Award of Excellence: The Sara Jackson Playground
TORONTO – June 25, 2025 – The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) has recognized The Sara Jackman Playground, a project completed by MARANT Construction, with the 2025 Award of Excellence in the Small-Scale Public Landscapes Designed by a Landscape Architect category.
Located at the University of Toronto’s Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study (JICS) Lab School, The Sara Jackman Playground is a space thoughtfully designed for discovery, adventure, and play. Its multi-tiered design encourages children to challenge themselves, enhancing both their physical skills and imaginative exploration.
As the General Contractor, MARANT managed the execution of the project, which features a distinctive boomerang-like play structure, an accessible ramp, and various surface finishes such as asphalt, concrete, engineered wood fiber, and specialized gravel that absorbs rainwater to support sustainable storm water management. The playground is surrounded by lush greenery and transplanted trees, contributing to a natural and welcoming feel to the area.
Despite challenging weather conditions throughout construction, the MARANT team maintained momentum through strategic scheduling and successfully met tight delivery timelines for critical components, ensuring client expectations were consistently met.
It was a pleasure to help bring PLANT Architect Inc.’s vision for The Sara Jackman Playground to life. This meaningful project was made possible through the collaboration of an exceptional team.
We are grateful to PLANT Architect Inc., Engineering Link, GPY Engineering, Summit Engineering, KWA, and UFORA for their valued contributions. We hope this playground continues to support JICS’ pedagogical principles, inspire creative play, and promote both mental and physical development for many years to come
