The Architects collected comments from a series of community outreach workshops. The design program evolved from a collaboration of neighborhood groups, children of Spring Valley Elementary School, the San Francisco Department of Recreation and Parks, and the Architects. The park takes form as an urban place with "child-scaled" street and building facades. The park is designed for seniors, parents, school-age children and pre-schoolers, and handicapped children. One can find areas for relaxation, passive contemplation and picnicking, and separate play areas for the more active school-age children and pre-schoolers.

The Washington Hyde Park design begins by directing visitors through a scaled-down ramp called the "Street." The park is situated in a densely populated urban setting of three to four-story residential and neighborhood commercial uses. Parking is difficult to find and cable cars trolley by. The children from nearby Spring Valley Elementary School strongly urged for a fun and active park. Thus, the park emerged as an "urban place."

Washington Hyde Park provides a viable and safe alternative for open space and play area for children and parents. The strong sense of play is marked by the bold visual forms and climbing devices. The picnic table and benches provide places for parents and children to interact. The unique design concept responds to minimizing maintenance and operational expenses with durable concrete materials featuring anti-graffiti treatment and drought-resistant planting. A clearly visible park concept eliminates the need for City staffing during the day.

The scaled down façade walls are 'children scale' in the openings and windows. One façade wall transcends time as a reminiscent image of the former Wing Lee Chinese Laundry that once occupied the site. The other façade walls recall images of the familiar San Francisco sites, including the Palace of Fine Arts and the palm tree-lined Embarcadero waterfront.

The 'lively' experience of play is created in a series of climbing towers, slides, ladders, bridges, a tunnel and a tire swing. The integral colors of poured concrete walls provide the backdrops for the colorful play structures.

From the park, one can see through the portals and hear the passing cable car. Looking down the entry ramp, visitors can capture the distant city view. The glass block windows give scale and visual interest to the façade walls. The espalier planting contrasts against the black fencing screen walls. The 'avenue' of palm trees planted along the diagonal ramp reinforces the directional quality of the ramp leading to the feature playground equipment by "Landscape Structures Inc."

The ramp makes Washington Hyde Park an accessible park. The ramp and special play structures are intended for ambulatory as well as non-ambulatory children, including swings, climbing devices, a Tic Tac Toe panel, and a wheel chair-accessible Splash Circuit™. The use of special rubber matting makes it possible for wheel chair access to the Chin Up bars, sand areas and the climbing play structure.

The park offers children, teachers and families a unique experience to explore, and to experiment in play. It is unlike any other park. The colorful palette of concrete walls, the variety of forms, spaces and playstructures, and the versatile-impact materials of sand and rubber mats enliven the visual senses, and enhances the textural experiences. The neighboring residents have taken upon themselves to watch over and secure the park. The park is intended to create a memorable experience, an intended spirited place where no one has ever been. It is a testament to the spirit and tenacity of a determined community.