Giant bird sculptures and castle maze arrive at new $1.7 million northern playground
A giant castle maze, open kickabout spaces and larger-than-life bird sculptures are among the attractions at a new $1.7 million reserve that has opened in Adelaide’s north.
The reserve forms part of Villawood’s 700-lot St Andrews community, which launched in 2021 and sits close to the Northern Expressway for access between Andrews Farm and metropolitan Adelaide.
The new reserve was unveiled with a community celebration and ribbon cutting by City of Playford Mayor Glenn Docherty, with Villawood Properties’ general manager Ben Moore saying that the response so far has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
“It’s amazing how many people are coming in and using it,” he said, attributing the popularity to the park’s “wow factor.”
“We always look to create something that people want to visit and that people are really proud to have in their community,” Ben said.
“With this one, we set out to do exactly that. We wanted a major, decent-sized playground as part of it, but the reserve itself also has barbecue areas and a large kickabout space where people can kick a soccer ball or football, play cricket or do whatever they like.”
More than 500 homes have already been delivered within St Andrews, with the new reserve forming part of the community infrastructure being delivered alongside the residential development.
Villawood designed the reserve with its consultants before engaging a contractor to build the playground and park, with the finished reserve ultimately to be handed over to council as a public asset.
There are also large-scale cockatoo sculptures that have been installed throughout the reserve, with even bigger kookaburras still to come.
The sculptures were created specifically for St Andrews by Tasmanian artist Folko Kooper, who Villawood has worked with across its developments for around 30 years.
“On all of our projects and developments across Australia, we deliver artwork as well,” Ben said.
“Those ones were designed exclusively for St Andrews.”
The reserve is also bordered by more than 100 established river red gums, which have been incorporated into a linear reserve providing habitat for local wildlife.
Smaller ornamental orchards dotted throughout the open space nod to the area’s history as a wine-growing and agricultural district.
Further parks, open spaces and community infrastructure are set to form part of its William Lakes, Oakden Rise, Aldinga, Seacliff Village and The Quarter developments across Adelaide.
St Andrews Reserve
Where: St Andrews Way, Andrews Farm
For more information, click here.
Originally published by GLAM Adelaide on 11/09/2026
