Castle Batch, Weston-super-Mare

Client: Weston-super-Mare Town Council

Cost: £400,000

Date: July 2023

Genre: Inclusive, Themed, Multisensory

Weston-super-Mare Town Council issued a specification in July 2022 for the design and installation of an accessible SEN play area at the Castle Batch area in Weston-super-Mare, which would provide inclusive play opportunities for local children with Special Educational Needs. Research carried out by the disability charity SCOPE had discovered that almost half of families with SEN children in the area (49%) had felt their local playground was not accessible – local parents of SEN children had previously faced a trip of 25 minutes and 13 miles to reach a dedicated SEN park, and so a new inclusive play site was highly welcome in the area.

Weston Town Council had secured £400,000 of funding for this project from various parties including North Somerset Council’s Improving Play Spaces Fund, the ‘Big Worle’ Community Investment Fund, and Tesco, and Sutcliffe Play (South-West) Ltd were awarded the contract to design and install the site after a competitive tender process.

Listening to the Community

Sutcliffe Play SW immediately set about designing a bright, varied and inviting play space which would allow SEN children to reap the full benefits of a stimulating, inclusive play experience, working with the council to deliver a final play area which would correspond with the community’s needs and priorities. The Council had consulted with the community on what they would like to see from the new play area; both specific park users, and 229 parents, career and teachers – collectively representing 2140 local children with special educational needs – said their top priority was the provision of accessible equipment at the park, as well as safety and protection for SEN families from anti-social behaviour.

The latter group, meanwhile, also overwhelmingly responded that they wished to see a tactile stimulation zone, featuring sensory items that provide stimulation for SEN children, and a quiet retreat area for children with SEN such as autism to relax and escape loud noise. When surveyed, children themselves answered that the top 2 items they’d most like to add would be climbing frames and swings, whilst parents/carers/teachers most wanted to see swings and a roundabout installed.

Meeting the Brief

Sutcliffe Play SW listened carefully to these considerations and designed an extensive play space full of inclusive equipment, which also reflected the local character by taking inspiration from the historic motte-and-bailey castle which had previously stood on the Castle Batch site. This was a medieval fortification with a raised central keep, and so our installation features a central mounded area with a junior castle-themed Citadel multi-play unit at its heart, with this raised area also providing children in wheelchairs with the opportunity to experience being raised above their peers.

Easy to distinguish black and yellow wet pour surfacing has been used across the installation to allow partially sighted children to easily distinguish the areas around the equipment that may be hazardous due to the movement involved, while additional wet pour features include a 3D dragon and Hopscotch Knight!

The site includes 8 carefully selected sensory panels to provide stimulation (a key requirement of the brief driven by community feedback), including a sensory play panel with many tactile, visually stimulating elements, a Rainbow panel with rotating rainbow-coloured beads, a Showtime Mirror Play panel, and a ‘Hello’ Braille Play Panel for visually impaired children. Sutcliffe Play SW also fulfilled the other main wish of the community by installing a quieter sensory area, separate from the primary play area, where SEN children who struggle with loud noises could relax and unwind.

Ensuring Inclusivity

Other inclusive elements include an Inclusive Seat and Scooter Wheelchair Roundabout, which can accommodate a wheelchair and carers and allow them to enjoy the spinning motion together (one of the top two pieces of equipment requested by parents in the community feedback). As well as this, a new themed Group Seesaw allows balancing fun for 6 users, with an Inclusive Springie which is specially shaped to allow children to get on and off themselves by reversing, sitting down or climbing up the open front, with no lifting on necessary.

Existing elements have also been given a fresh makeover, with the Cableway fully refurbished and repainted a bold green colour, and the pendulum swing given a new 1.2m Inclusive Nest Seat which is designed especially to accommodate several young children and those with special needs, enabling children of all abilities to swing together for a highly enjoyable sociable experience. A specially designed Inclusive Wheelchair Swing has also been added, providing greater choice for wheelchair users and further corresponding with the community feedback which had requested swings as one of the most desired items.

As well as opportunities for swinging and spinning, there is now the capacity for bouncing play with a 2.65 x 2.65 in-ground trampoline, whilst children had named climbing as another of their favourite activities, and this was catered for with a bird’s nest climbing tree tower. Finally, parents are now able to visit the park and enjoy a sit down whilst ensuring their children are kept safe and secure from anti-social behaviour with two picnic tables (wheelchair accessible) in a central location providing good visibility, as well as the retention of the existing bench moved to a new location.

Molly Maher, Senior Development Officer at Weston-super-Mare Town Council, said ‘Roy, Stewart and the team at Sutcliffe Play made the creation of our new SEND Play Area a fully collaborative project. They were willing to work with us and community partners in finding adaptations for a variety of needs, from the equipment itself, right down to the colour of the safety surfacing. They went above and beyond the original brief, with their design team supporting the creation of a Communication Board for children and adults with varying communication needs. We worked with them from the initial design right up until the opening event, and they were always on hand to answer questions and queries. Thank you Sutcliffe Play!’

Playground Equipment:

Citadel Multi-Play Unit

Citadel

Group Seesaw

Group Seesaw

Sneak & Peak Unit

Sneak & Peak

Inclusive Wheelchair Roundabout

Inclusive Wheelchair Roundabout

Large Dish Roundabout
Inclusive Nest Swing Seat
Double Width Embankment Slide
Multisensory Play Panels (Fahr) including Rainbow, Hello Braille and Roller Ball
Inclusive Springie
Cobra Swing

Sutcliffe Play Ltd
Waggon Lane
Upton
Pontefract
WF9 1JS
United Kingdom

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Anti-Slip Surfacing

Many of our products, especially our multi-play units, are designed to enable fast, thrilling, kinetic play for all ages and abilities. This is why durable, hard-wearing anti-slip surfacing is another key material used in our factory, to deliver the safest, highest quality playing experience for children.

The two most commonly used materials in this regard are Hexastrong panels and WISA®-Multifloor panels. The former is found primarily on the walking decks and steps on many of our multi-play units, including in our MiniTown, Toddlerzone and Playzone ranges. With their hard-wearing nature and excellent strength to weight ratio, these panels are ideally suited for use on playground equipment, and as they are produced primarily from timber, they can be considered a renewable resource.

Durable WISA®-Multifloor panels are also utilised most prominently in our Toddlerzone and Playzone ranges. Constructed from birch veneers bonded together with weather-resistant glue and coated with an elastic overlay, they deliver a strong, safe surface on walking decks and steps, upon which children can play freely.

As with all materials involved in the manufacture of our products, we work hard to ensure we deal with responsible suppliers at every stage, and participate in a sustainable supply chain with environmental consideration at its heart:

Both of our Hexastrong suppliers are UK-based, reducing emissions from overseas freight, and the materials we source from both are FSC (Forest Stewardship Certification) approved, ensuring they are derived from well-managed forests and tracked throughout their manufacturing journey. Both suppliers also fully comply with the Timber and Timber Products Regulations (UKTR), which requires them to conduct all necessary due diligence on their supply chains, to ensure the materials they use have been legally sourced and traded.

One of our suppliers also utilises a Carbon Calculator, to inform every customer of the overall carbon footprint of their order, taking in manufacture, delivery of the product to the supplier’s warehouse, and storage, all the way up to the moment it leaves the supplier’s premises. This information allows us to easily understand the carbon impact of the Hexastrong panels we purchase, and assess the results accordingly.

Our supplier of WISA®-Multifloor panels, meanwhile, is based like us in West Yorkshire, again reducing freight emissions, and as with our Hexastrong supplier, is FSC (Forest Stewardship Certification) approved and fully complies with the Timber and Timber Products Regulations (UKTR).

Both our Hexastrong and Wisa®-Multifloor panels are covered by a 2-year warranty against material degradation.

Paint/Finishing

Although originating from our West Yorkshire factory, our equipment delivers fun across the country every day – and beneath the colourful surface, its fundamentals are high quality, durable, and sustainable.

When it comes to safeguarding our environment, however, we know the surface itself has a part to play, too. We utilise a range of different treatments and finishes, including galvanising, powder coating and zinc priming for mild steel, and anodising for aluminium. These processes provide the materials with the best chance of enduring heavy usage, whilst sealing the surface’s prime coating, and adding further durability through a UV stable colourfast finish.

The manner of application is also crucial with regards to sustainability. Our preferred method, electrostatic spraying, involves the use of a spray gun to powder coat the metal. This leads to an exceptionally even particle distribution when compared with traditional airless methods, which can result in significant overspray and insufficient coverage. The improved transfer then translates to reduced paint consumption, which in turn reduces waste, and saves on any cleaning agents required to remove excess.

Our UK-based supplier practices sustainable delivery methods, including utilising cardboard packaging in place of plastic, as well as biodegradable packing peanuts made from natural, nontoxic sources (such as wheat and corn starch) which can be used in compost piles after use.

Our paint, anodising and galvanising are all covered by a 10-year warranty against significant corrosion due to faulty materials or finishing.

Rubber

With its inherent flexibility and array of bright colours, rubber is ideal for use in play equipment.

In our case, it is the main material used in many of our swing seats, whose design and production originally helped to make Sutcliffe Play a leading name in the playground market.

Rubber is derived from the sap of the rubber tree, which, when farmed responsibly, can be tapped for latex production over a period of many years before requiring replacement. Not only does this make the rubber itself a sustainable resource, it is also a great benefit for the wider ecosystem, as rubber trees have a significant capacity to absorb carbon dioxide.

Likewise, natural rubber is also extremely biodegradable, giving it a major advantage over plastic (which can take decades or even centuries to decompose); the higher the percentage of pure latex rubber in the compound, the faster it breaks down upon disposal.

Our north-west based supplier is a leading enterprise that operates a Sustainable Procurement Policy, which seeks to monitor and manage the business’s environmental impact, whilst ensuring social, environmental and economic factors are fully considered by employees and suppliers.

Our rubber is covered by a 2-year warranty against material degradation.

Aluminium

Sustainability and durability run through our equipment quite literally from top to bottom, as the supporting uprights on our popular Toddlerzone, Playzone, Neo and Mission ranges are constructed from high-quality, responsibly sourced aluminium.

Three of our four main aluminium suppliers are based locally in West Yorkshire, reducing freight emissions, and all seek to work within a sustainable supply chain, with one certified to the Environmental 14001 standard.

This highly durable material is the most recyclable metal in the world, and can be continually re-melted and refashioned into new products without losing its properties. This process also uses up to 95% less energy than the production of new aluminium from raw materials.

Its unique combination of versatile properties, including low weight, high strength, corrosion resistance and recyclability make it a perfect match for heavy usage playgrounds. Its hardened anodised finish is also maintenance free and requires no touch-up or finish during its life cycle, saving on wastage and the use of new top up materials.

Our aluminium is covered by a 25-year warranty against structural strength, and our anodising is covered by a 10-year warranty against significant corrosion due to faulty materials or finishing.

Mild Steel

Mild steel is another essential material which is a perfect fit for our durable product range, used to create the supporting components of our multi play units, as well as rotators such as our inclusive dish roundabouts.

As with stainless steel, our supplier is an established enterprise in the local West Yorkshire area. They create mild steel from raw materials sourced from UK and Belgian foundries which are BES6001 certified, and as of April 2023, their activity was estimated to produce 1.39 tonnes of carbon emissions per tonne of steel, well below one of the major estimated industry averages (1.85 tonnes), and on par with another (1.40).

This high-quality material is painted using a sustainable electrostatic process, and gains added protection through a UV stable colourfast finish. It has been proven to withstand not only the rigours of daily usage but the harshest of outdoor environments, including those with high salinity – this is well-evidenced by the fact that there has never been a customer claim against its structural guarantee.

Our mild steel is covered by a 25-year warranty against structural strength.

Stainless Steel

Another material that helps us to offer the most robust equipment on the market is stainless steel, used in the manufacture of our chute, bedway and bannister slides.

Our supplier is local, based like us in Yorkshire (reducing freight-based carbon emissions), and they utilise only materials from approved and highly reputable mills. They also work to ensure their supply chains are free from any unacceptable labour practices, are aligned to the UN 2040 Net Zero Target, and are beginning to roll out the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil to replace diesel at all of their service centres, leading to a reduction in carbon emissions and nitrogen oxide.

The stainless steel in our products is maintenance free, easy clean, and suitable for all environments. It conforms to EN10088 specifications, and it is austenitic – making it stronger, more durable, and less electrically and thermally conductive than carbon steel, as well having a greater corrosion resistance. This durable, robust composition greatly extends the material’s lifespan, deferring waste creation (and steel is already the most recycled material used in manufacturing overall, so is far less likely to create waste at all).

Our stainless steel is covered by a 25-year warranty against structural strength.

HPL

HPL is a high-performance, external grade, self-supporting laminate utilised in versatile ways throughout our product range, such as the colourful panelling on many of our multi-play units.

The two key components in its creation are paper (technically called cellulose fibres) and thermosetting resin, with the former representing 60-70% of the finished material.

Our supplier is an Environmental Management Systems ISO 14001:2015 certified business, which holds both of the voluntary ‘Chain of Custody’ certifications according to FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) schemes. These certifications guarantee that the final product is made of material from well-managed, FSC or PEFC-Certified forests, and other controlled sources.

No organic solvents, asbestos or heavy metals are used during HPL’s production cycle, and it doesn’t release any gases, vapours, solvents or fluids. Its processing waste can be handled in a manner equivalent to household waste at controlled landfills, and it is estimated that 80% of the waste generated by our supplier is recovered.

Once created, HPL’s standout durability (it is fire-retardant, scratch and shock resistant, and non-porous) ensures that it will resist a great deal of wear and tear, and endure for long periods before requiring replacement.

Our HPL panels are covered by a 10-year warranty against non-structural failure due to faulty workmanship or materials.

HDPE

HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) is an extremely versatile thermoplastic polymer used in the freestanding play panels which feature in many of our play spaces, as well as for various components across our product range.

Offering an excellent strength-to-density ratio, and a very high impact resistance and melting point, products utilising HDPE are sure to enjoy a very long life.

Our HDPE is sustainably sourced, with our supplier having recycled 99% of their waste material and off-cuts from their formation, and offering HDPE recycling services to customers for products which are no longer required.

Unlike natural, porous materials such as wood (which can feature fissures or grooves that harbour moisture or bacteria) HDPE resists mould and rotting as well as most strong mineral acids and naturally occurring chemicals. HDPE is also easily recyclable, helping to keep non-biodegradable waste out of landfill.

Our freestanding play panels are also accompanied by a selection of sustainably sourced supporting posts, including recycled plastic, galvanised metal, and timber. As with HDPE, these enjoy a far longer lifespan due to their environmental resistance (with none of the rotting, cracking, or splitting that may come with traditional timber posts), and they also help to reduce non-biodegradable landfill waste.

Our HDPE is covered by a 10-year warranty against non-structural failure due to faulty workmanship or materials.

Glulam

Our Treetops multi-play equipment is well-known for its naturalistic aesthetic, with striking wooden support beams bringing an eye-catching look to the entire range.

These are constructed from Glued Laminated (Glulam) Larch, a structurally engineered wood comprised of layers of dimensioned lumber, bonded together with durable, moisture-resistant structural adhesives.

Our well-established supplier of Glulam is based very locally to our factory in West Yorkshire, reducing freight emissions – and as with all of our materials, Glulam’s great durability minimises waste and the need for replacement in the long term. Its design delivers greater dimensional stability than that of whole log sections, with no shakes, twisting or warping, and all Glulam beams within the Treetops range have an oblique cut top to prevent water ingress, as well as galvanized steel shoes to protect the base of each post from the elements.

As well as having no known negative environmental effects, repairability of Glulam is high, and once it reaches the end of its natural life, it can be repurposed as an excellent biofuel.

Our Glulam is covered by a 10-year warranty against structural strength.

Timber

Timber is an essential material in our work, used primarily in our naturalistic Orchard range – and we strive to ensure not only that it is sustainably sourced, but smartly applied to ensure maximum longevity.

Our FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified supplier handles slow grown pine logs derived from strictly controlled sources, either through government body approved felling licences or forest/woodland management plans. They also encourage the recycling of their products during manufacturing, with all wastage repurposed – including in a local biomass plant that produces electricity and heat.

The timber we purchase for use in our Orchard posts has been pressure treated against wet rot, dry rot and insect infestation, carried out after it has been cut and drilled (ensuring the coverage of all exposed timber). It has also been preservative pressure-treated with high-quality Tanalith 9000, which is proven at providing unrivalled protection.

A UK-sourced aluminium protective shoe maintains the timber above ground level, protecting the base of each post throughout its lifetime, and side ventilation holes allow the posts to breathe and stay dry. At the other end, a special rubber cap completely seals the post top, preventing moisture from entering the top grain.

Our Timber is covered by a 10-year warranty against structural strength.