Meet Dan

Dan founded the studio on the Gold Coast, Australia in 2020. In 2025, we expanded to Sydney to better serve our growing client base.

After spending over 11 years practicing out of UAE and the Middle East. Dan has exclusively designed homes for prestigious clients including HH Sheik Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, H.E Sheikh Shakhboot and Bin Nahyan Mabarak Al Nahyan. In 2017 Dan personally designed a memorial for HHH Princess Haya of Jordan to honour her late mother Princess Alia. The memorial was built in 2017 in the foothills outside Amman.

Since 2020 Dan has been leading the way in playground design. Winning 3 Landscape Architecture design awards recognised for their innovative approach to play and research supported framework

About Our Play Design Philosophy

At Dan Rimes Design, we believe that play is the foundation of childhood development — a universal language through which children learn, grow, connect, and build resilience. Our play environments are intentionally designed to meet the developmental needs of young children, offering opportunities for movement, creativity, collaboration, and challenge in a safe and inclusive setting.

Every structure we create is more than just play equipment. It's a carefully considered space that reflects the latest evidence in child development, early learning frameworks, and educational psychology. We understand that high-quality play environments have a measurable impact on emotional regulation, social interaction, cognitive growth, and overall wellbeing — especially during the early years.

Bringing Psychology Into Play

Our early childhood development consultant, Jessica Rimes, holds a Bachelor of Psychological Science and is currently completing her pathway to registration as a psychologist. With a special interest in developmental psychology, environmental influence on learning, and the role of play in mental and emotional wellbeing, Jessica brings a research-informed lens to every design.

Jessica works collaboratively with our team to ensure each space considers:

• The developmental stages of early childhood, including motor, cognitive, emotional, and social milestones;

• The role of play in developing resilience, autonomy, and emotional regulation;

• The importance of inclusive and accessible design, allowing children of all abilities and temperaments to engage meaningfully;

• Nature-based and sensory-rich environments, which enhance learning and calm the nervous system.

We believe that thoughtfully designed play spaces support educators and caregivers, too — offering calm, intuitive, and developmentally responsive environments that reduce behavioural incidents and promote positive engagement.

Evidence-Based, Child-Centred, Purpose-Driven

At the heart of every project is our commitment to evidence-based practice and deep respect for the unique needs of children. Whether we are creating play spaces for early learning centres, public parks, or schools, our work integrates the latest developmental research with real-world design experience.

Our designs don’t just meet standards — they help set them.