Playground Strategy, London
A school playground strategy with a makeover built by the parents
We have been working with this brand new school in both its temporary and permanent location. The initial project enlivened the playground of their temporary site and when they moved to their new school building, we were asked to bring life to the patch of tarmac proposed for the new playground.
The new school was constrained in outdoor space and there was a limited budget for change. As such we put forward a carefully considered strategic plan that could be implemented in phases over a number of academic years.
With input from both children and teaching staff, the brief was determined for the crucial areas of play space. Areas for different types of creative, natural and physical play were needed for children ranging in age from 4 to 11. We therefore needed to design spaces that could be flexible and engaging throughout a child’s life at school, and for different types of play to coexist.
Proposed masterplan
Growing beds / planting
We initially set out a simple breakdown of the space to allow for a quieter side and a more active play side. These were separated by a ground painted play path to link the main get to the school entrance. The active side of the playground allows for different types of movement based play with a A small multi-use games area (MUGA), climbing wall and climbing frame. The quieter space utilises some of the planting, small playhouses and growing beds to break down the space and allow key points of more gentle play. There is also a play trail between the trees to provide further interest.
Playground strategy sketch ideas