The Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds Team
|
Adam Bienenstock - President/Principal Designer
|
Adam has spent the past 20 years engaging both professionals and amateurs from coast to coast how to design, build and maintain their outdoor spaces. Over the last decade, he has focused on the research, design and construction of safer, more engaging, playgrounds for kids: natural playgrounds. His company (www.naturalplaygrounds.ca) is dedicated to their mission of ‘connecting children to nature when and where they play’.
Adam is a consultant on design & construction, policy, risk and regulatory process for natural playgrounds. His clients include Canadian municipalities from St John’s to Vancouver, and US clients from New York to California. He has designed and consulted on natural playgrounds for Parks Canada, the YMCA, YWCA, school boards, childcare facilities, hospitals, zoos and museums with support from ING and TOYOTA.
Adam received his MBA from Queens, his Horticulture Diploma from Vancouver B.C., Design training from John Brookes in England, and playground training from the Natural Learning Initiative at North Carolina State University. Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds have recently won awards for Universal Accessibility from the City of Toronto, the 2010 Award for the Betterment of Parks from the Ontario Parks Association, a national Trillium Award for Innovation and Advancement in the Landscape Industry, and the 2010 Green Toronto Award for Environmental Excellence for Urban Design.
Adam and the t he award winning natural playgrounds he has designed have been regularly showcased in print and television on CBC Television, ‘The Mom Show’, Gardening Life, Global TV and in the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette and other publications
He has been a speaker on the main stage at the Canada Blooms Show, and in communities across Canada. He has been a panel member for discussion series at the Ontario Parks Association and Canadian Parks and Recreation Association. Adam has developed and delivered workshops on designing natural playgrounds across Canada and produced a speaker series on the subject for the Toronto Botanical Gardens. Keynote addresses and workshops can be found this summer at the Healthy Cities Conference in London, and the Creativity Summit in Canada.
Adam has served as national program manager for the environmental charity ‘Evergreen’ (www.evergreen.ca), and currently serves as a director on the boards of two Canadian community organizations: Maple Key’(www.maplekey.org) and the Child Nature Alliance (www.childnature.ca). Adam is also actively involved with Richard Louv and Dr. Cheryl Charles of The Children and Nature Network (www.childandnature.org ).
|
|
 |
Bruce Sudds - Vice President, DevelopmentBruce
Sudds has worked in community development, communications and
government affairs for over 10 years in Canada and Europe. He engages
government, charities, community organizations, the private sector and
the media to bring environmental, artistic and social enhancements to
our communities. His efforts have won him a National Magazine Award
as the Publisher of Montage Magazine and a Public Sector Quality Award
for his role in the City of Toronto’s Tree Advocacy Planting Program.
As
the Vice President of Gardens For Living, Bruce develops new projects,
manages communications and marketing, coordinates volunteers and
develops research on the efficacy of natural playgrounds. Bruce also
serves as the Executive Director of Maple Key, a not-for-profit
organization that assists Canadians in making the changes they desire
in their communities.
Bruce has two Bachelor of Arts degrees and
completed postgraduate studies in Environmental Planning and
Comparative Public Policy.
|
|
|
 |
Jeff Cowan - Vice President, Operations and Health & Safety
|
|
Jeff has a Kinesiology
degree from McMaster University. He is an important member of the
design team and specialises in the ergonomic design and the manufacture
of Gardens for Living’s playground components.
Jeff
is also the Chief Safety Officer for the company ensuring both a safe
workplace and safety in our final products as well. Jeff’s training
ingross and fine motor function allows him to provide critical
oversight in all aspects of how children interact within our
playscapes. He also manages installations to ensure that all ADA
accessibility requirements are met.
|
|
|
Jill Bienenstock - Curriculum Director
|
|
Jill has received two degrees in Early Childhood Education from
Concordia University in Montreal and George Brown College in Toronto.
She worked for 12 years at Bloorview Macmillan Hospital in their ‘Play
and Learn’ facility. She worked with play based learning techniques in
an inclusive ECE environment where up to 50% of students had a
recognised disability.
Jill reviews all designs and components for their play value. Jill is
the in-house expert in suggestive versus prescriptive design technique
and children’s environmental programming and often leads teacher design
facilitations to ensure their programming needs are being met in our
playgrounds. As the schoolyard and playground design consultant she
uses her two degrees, limitless energy, attention to detail and rich
experience in play based learning to ensure all children’s and program
facilitators’ needs are met.
|
|
|
|
|
John El-Raheb - Manager, Online Data & Customer Relationship Systems
John attended McMaster University, specializing in Software Engineering. John brings valuable experience to the GFL team. His work with Interequip Inc., a large Canadian Distribution company and their online customer relationship specialized management CRM software, has translated well for us.
John has designed, implemented and maintained our online tools which allow us to effectively manage large client groups at low cost while maintaining high consumer satisfaction. His work on our online design platform makes the design process less tedious and reduces costs to both GFL and our clients. GFL has been awarded R&D grants from Industry Canada for his ground breaking new technology.
|
|
David Rexworthy - Manager, Architectural Renderings
Dave attended Mohawk College for his diploma in Architectural Technology. He specializes in CAD drafting, rendering, and graphic work for natural playground designs. Dave works closely with Adam Bienenstock implementing the client ideas and creating blueprints, 3D designs and specification drawings.
|
|