Brief
Play experts Sutcliffe Play have developed a dynamic and unique self build system that encourages children to explore, create and interact – essential elements of adventure playgrounds. The concept of self build is to allow children the ability to build and change the environment around them as an integral part of play. Children should be able to adapt and change structures, evolving aspects to reflect their patterns of play.
In practice, many self build structures aren’t transformed over time and the value of ‘rebuilding’ for children is often limited to repainting and repairs. A new generation of children often inherit the previous structure without the engagement and understanding of why it was built that way in the first place.
Client
The innovative system has been installed in Cambridgeshire’s new £1 million Wisbech Adventure Playground. The playground was designed and built by Sutcliffe Play and is one of the 30 adventure playgrounds installed across the country as part of the previous government’s Play Pathfinder scheme.
Design and Build
The new system developed by Sutcliffe Play has kept the principles of self build at the heart of its design – bespoke; transforms over time; can be built and rebuilt by children (not playworkers) and it is flexible to meet the needs of children, the space and the environment. The end result is a bespoke creation, led by children and facilitated by playworkers. The system centres around a grid of 5m high natural robinia posts, which form an informal triangular grid. Within this is an interchangeable system of 16 decks and slides onto which elements can be attached. Reinforced mesh fabric floors and sides incorporate a Velcro loop system, which enable quick and instinctive construction within a few minutes.
Dave Brady, Design Director at Sutcliffe Play comments: “Children can create and build their own structures on a daily basis, everyday bringing a new opportunity to change and transform their play environment. Whether a den for two, a giant spider’s web or tree world city, the only limit is a child’s imagination. It changes constantly, engaging children time and time again. “The size and complexity of the grid can be determined by the customer and can be added onto at a later date. The joy of self build is that each unit is bespoke to meet the needs of the customer and the children that play with it.”
