The playground on Lennon Way, Basingstoke, possessed great potential as a standout meeting place for local families and children, but its compact area was surrounded by bushes and trees, limiting its accessibility and visibility – its featured equipment was also no longer fit for purpose. We were delighted to win the chance to aid the local council in revitalising the site, and help them to bring their exciting vision of a modern, dynamic play space to life.
We began by undertaking a thorough site survey and finalising a design which paid great attention to all aspects of the brief. We demonstrated the breadth of our service offering from the outset as we worked hard to not only remove the tired existing equipment, but also to increase the site’s openness by removing the largest tree and bushes. We replaced them with a more manageable array of plant life to maintain the site’s natural charms, as well as a self-closing pedestrian gate for a proper access point, a bin to reduce the risk of litter despoiling the area, a new fence, and a bench for parents to relax whilst children play.
We also conducted a full resurfacing of the space, with striking black and blue wetpour and multicoloured outdoors-themed graphics, including numbered leaves for educational play, and a splash symbol. Atop this eye-catching surfacing we delivered a fantastic array of some of our most exciting equipment, revolving around an engaging countryside theme. The finished site is able to accommodate over 36 toddlers and junior-age children at any one time, offering at least 33 thrilling play features:
Our themed Digger and Tractor multiplay unit is the centrepiece of the space. Designed with two contrasting transport visuals on either side, this colourful unit offers 11 exciting play features to up to 15 users, with a 1.2m high central tower (accessed via a ring climber), a slide on one side and an inclusive climbing ramp (with side transfer platform) on the other, along with various interactive play elements for hours of fun. The Digger side is an eye-catching bright yellow, whilst the Tractor side features an engine and front bumper complete with a corn thresher hitched to the back.
Another topline item is our Fergus 4 x 4 rocker, which takes the form of a large off-roader vehicle, with a friendly persona displayed on its robust HPL panels with a big smile and eyes in the form of headlights. Aside from the rocking sensation, this colourful unit also offers many interactive features to entertain up to 4 young visitors, including a bucket seat and a dashboard with steering wheel, speedometer, oil/temperature levels and pushable buttons, as well as chunky wheels and arches, and a bumper and number plate.
The naturalistic surroundings are further reflected in our inclusive Flower Springie, whose colourful HPL design brings comfortable bouncing fun with foot and heel rails to guide the feet into the best position, and a rubber moulded seat with an integral pommel and backrest for a non-slip experience. Its open fronted design enables easy access, making this springie inclusive for children with many different accessibility requirements.
A number of playground staples are also present and correct: our best-selling Inclusive Dish Roundabout guarantees durability, being manufactured from 3mm thick mild steel and then hot-tip galvanised – and this inclusive product offers very fast rotation with good body support and security for two users, whilst its angle and height enable easy side transfer. Meanwhile our Curlicue takes the form of a simple spiral and is also set at an angle, harnessing the user’s changing centre of gravity to propel them around, and entrancing children with its revolving optical effect – and with this small unit and its associated surfacing requiring only 10m² of space, it’s a perfect fit for this compact site. Finally, a dynamic Mini M Swing with Mini Bird’s Nest Seat offers an inclusive swinging sensation, and good accessibility for a huge range of children.
Catherine Daly, Principal Landscape Architect at Basingstoke and Deane Council, said: ‘The final scheme at Lennon Way opens up views in and out of the play area, improving on its secure by design credentials. The equipment caters for a wide range of play experiences for our target age group of toddlers and younger juniors, with modern and inclusive options. The play area has been well received by local residents, and has been popular with users since it opened.’
We’re proud that our work on Lennon Way has refreshed a tired, insular space, by both literally and figuratively opening it up to countless local families. Not only did we deliver a site which offers a huge variety of play features and an engaging countryside aesthetic to excite local children, we achieved this by making the very best use of every square metre of space, and giving this compact play space the biggest possible appeal.
