WholeTrees Structures Brings Biophilic Timber Playscapes to Toronto’s New Biidaasige Park

WholeTrees leads nature-based approaches to playspace, incorporating White Oak play and shade features at the recently opened biophilic Biidaasige Park.

Madison, WI — WholeTrees Structures, a leader in sustainable design and fabrication with unmilled timber, has completed its latest natural play commission at Biidaasige Park, the marquee attraction on Toronto’s new island, Ookwemin Minising. Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and stewarded by Waterfront Toronto, the park opened in July as the largest new public space in a generation—part of the $1.4 billion Port Lands Flood Protection Project.

WholeTrees designed and fabricated several structures in the Badlands Scramble, including a dramatic playscape feature of oversized upside down White Oak “trident pole” climbers that rise from the landscape and invite climbing, scrambling, and crawling. In addition, WholeTrees created shade structures from minimally processed White Oak, retaining the raw form of the timber to reinforce the park’s biophilic ethos. These elements extend the park’s broader narrative of resilience, reconciliation, and ecological restoration while offering immersive, nature-based play for all ages.

“Biidaasige Park represents a global-scale investment in resilient urban design, and we are proud that WholeTrees’ biogenic timber structures play a role in shaping how communities experience it,” said Amelia Baxter, Co-Founder & CEO of WholeTrees Structures. “This project reflects our belief that biophilic design belongs at the forefront of public space, and that partnerships between architects, engineers, and material innovators can redefine how play connects people to nature.”

Biidaasige Park, named in Anishinaabemowin for “sunlight shining toward us,” opened in July with community celebrations, performances, and storytelling led by Indigenous partners. The 20-hectare park includes Toronto’s first public ziplines, extensive trails, water access, ecological habitats, and cultural installations. An additional 10 hectares will open in 2026.

WholeTrees’ work at Biidaasige Park is the latest in a series of recent projects redefining play through natural materials and biophilia. Other notable projects include:

• Tom’s Treehouse, Fontenelle Forest (Omaha, NE): A multi-layered, ADA-compliant treehouse designed and engineered by WholeTrees.

• Anna C. Verna Playground, FDR Park (Philadelphia, PA): Inclusive monumental climbing structures that reach up into the existing mature tree canopy with giant slides spiraling to the ground are highlights of this major playscape update from the mind of innovative playground designers, Studio Ludo,  including  a 20-swing “mega swing” created in partnership with Berliner and WRT and managed by Specified Playground Equipment Company. 2025, American Society of Landscape Architects, Pennsylvania-Delaware Chapter, Merit Award for General Design

• Blue Oak Landing (Vallejo, CA): Natural play elements integrated into a supportive housing community, an AIA California Award winner

• Kaiser Early Childhood Center (Oakland, CA): A terraced natural play landscape with structural round timber log mazes, steppers, tunnels, and tree tents, part of OUSD’s Living Schoolyards initiative.

Across these projects, WholeTrees advances the use of biogenic timber in public space, designing playscapes that merge structural rigor, ecological storytelling, and direct connection to nature. For more information on WholeTrees landscape and playscape projects, please visit https://wholetrees.com/portfolio/.

About WholeTrees Structures

Founded in 2007, WholeTrees uses the inherent strength of Structural Round Timber (SRT) and millions of years of organic structural engineering to provide beautiful, affordable, and durable biophilic structural systems that restore forests. Headquartered in Madison, WI, with teams positioned coast to coast, the company serves as the singular hub between well-managed forests, biophilic architectural designs, cutting edge 3D scanning and inventory management tools, and solid structural timber products and services.