Our brief for this park, which over the years had grown tired and facilities fallen into disrepair, was to fully reinvigorate the space – with the added aspiration of making it an exemplar for accessibility.
Our starting point was to open up the park with better connections into the local context, and inside, paths were reconfigured to provide improved entrance points at all four corners. We opened up views to make the park simple and ‘free flowing’, with space for families to explore and play in a safe environment.
The large young children’s play area has 50% of amenities for access by children with disabilities – including a state-of-the-art wheelchair swing, roundabout and trampoline – alongside other equipment which offers strong sensory experience. Moreover, a dragon sketched by a local school pupil has been transformed into a fiery head of the accessible slide by local artist Joel Parkes, who transformed a mature tree trunk into a bespoke sculpture over three months. We also focused on the creation of ‘playable landscapes’ including a bold climbing frame set among a beautiful stand of coniferous trees.
For more details, read our Project Story.
Creating an urban oasis and a flagship park for accessible play.