Eureka! Halifax, West Yorkshire

Client: Eureka Children's Museum

Cost: £11,000

Date: 01/07/1905

Genre: Community, Inclusive

Eureka! Joins the Play Revolution

Brief

Leading playground equipment designer and manufacturer, Sutcliffe Play, is delighted to be working in partnership with Eureka! The National Children’s Museum, in Halifax, West Yorkshire.

The partnership allows children on school visits to the museum to experience first hand the innovative and exciting Snug play equipment.

Client

Eureka! is the UK’s first and leading Children’s Museum with over 400 interactive exhibits, inspiring children aged 0-11 years old, to learn about themselves and the world around them through imagination, play and discovery. Eureka! wanted to provide an interactive playground for visiting groups of school children and families to enjoy during their trips to the museum.

The museum is also home to the Eureka! Den, a holiday club for children during the school holidays, and the Eureka! Nursery, an early years child care provider. The Den and nursery make frequent visits to the museum and outdoor play area so it was important to provide play equipment that would appeal to a wide range of children and abilities.

Design and Build

Snug, the revolutionary concept in loose parts play is designed to transform play areas into dynamic and creative playscapes inspiring children to explore, create, discover and learn. The colourful kit, comprising nine large, inter-related flexible shapes can be reconfigured by children to vary their surroundings. Snug is used in primary schools, nurseries, children’s centres, indoor play centres, shopping centres, hotels and now a museum.

Playground Equipment:

It is the result of a fifteen year process of research and evaluation into the way that children behave, react and play in specific environments by playground artists, Snug & Outdoor, a Sutcliffe Play partner. It changes children’s established patterns of behaviour by engaging children’s imaginations and giving them the satisfaction of being able to change their surroundings. It allows children to develop new ways of playing, encourages creativity, social interaction and cooperation.

The kit comprises the following modular elements:

LOOP: Made up of modular elements, the Loop can be used to construct curved play structures to encourage balancing games and create areas for socialising.

CONE: The Cone provides a meeting point and introduces a vertical structure to the playground. It can be jumped onto and hidden behind and is created from tactile foam, making it perfect for hugging and bouncing off.

BUMP: Perfect for jumping off, bouncing on or rocking and spinning on, the Bump can be used to create pathways or linked to other elements using Noodles.

WAVE: This versatile building unit has two distinct sides – a softer waved surface and a hard, flat side. Together they can be used to create platforms for performing and dancing, lounging areas, raised walkways, barriers and walls.

WALL: Versatile and flexible, the Wall can be used horizontally and vertically. Children can stand it on its side to create a curved wall or a den, turn it on its back to become a rocking cradle, or place it on its feet to become a tunnel or raised walkway.

NOODLE: Offering unlimited possibilities, the Noodle can be used for connecting and building.

MOUND: The Mound helps children experience different levels, slopes and terrains. It dramatically transforms a playground landscape, creating small humps, large hills, extended ridges and valleys.

PAD: Perfect for teaming with other elements, the Pad provides a robust but soft base for the spider as well as the roof for the Loop circle or walls.

SPIDER: A versatile sculptural element made from light, durable foam material, the Spider can be used alone to create shapes or plugged into other elements including the Pad to create a safe haven.

For more information on Snug, please visit www.snugplay.co.uk