Client brief:
Following an earlier project with St Werburgh’s Primary School, TouchWood were asked to extend the play area in partnership with Bristol’s Scrapstore PlayPod, who had been engaged by the primary school to produce a Play Brief which aimed to create ‘vibrant and dynamic play times’.
Design Response:
The second of two sustainable play sites we developed for St Werburghs School focussed on adventure and activity and involved a number of bespoke installations. Some of these installations would enable the children to build their own play activities, utilising the materials from their ‘PlayPod’.
Our bespoke eco friendly playground installations included:
Boulder mound, timber tangle and ‘grass’ slide’ with the aim of creating a tactile and exciting feature, we used a combination of boulders and timber on an Astroturf mound within the play area. The feature encourages clambering over the boulders and scrambling or tunnelling through the timber tangle, before rolling or sliding down the grass mound.
Tree House with wooden slide – Affectionately known by our team as the wedding cake due to its layers of play opportunities, this bespoke feature allows children to climb up a ladder and onwards to a unique, hollow tree house with wild stick cladding and a beautifully hand-carved wooden slide. The striking tree house was milled and carved by our specialist team from an ancient tree, which had fallen locally. The ladder was created with the Children’s input, during a day’s Building for Real workshop at the School.
Den making and swing frames
This moveable, hexagonal frame was designed in collaboration with Dr Martin Maudsley, Co-Author of “Play Naturally”. Its key feature is its versatility, enabling it to be transformed into multiple worlds of play by the children using their imagination and loose parts from the PlayPod. The robust frame is strong enough to rig up a swing or string up a hammock. Drilled holes and wooden pegs, offer simple fixing points for ropes, sheets and nets and the frame can even be configured into an outdoor teaching space.
Learn more about how TouchWood can support your school to engage students with educational playgrounds.
