Royal Victoria Playground
Playforce’s Playground Equipment Design Development
Specialist Fran Brown was contacted to design and install a new
Adventure Tower System to replace an old wooden tower in the Royal
Victoria Playground in Bath by Andy Chard, Parks Technical
Manager for the Environmental Services in Bath & North East
Somerset Council
Fran explained “The area was a fairly narrow strip, and so
we set out to design a system which would give children the maximum
play value - and suitable for as many children as
possible. We decided to use a Tower System with lots of
colour to enhance the already prestigious raised position.
The design includes exciting Climbing Nets, Vertical Climbing
Walls, Sloping Rock Climbs, Fireman’s Poles to slide down,
Bridges to cross - some higher and more challenging,
and others lower and more suitable for the younger children. This
is the most wonderful arena for exciting and adventurous play for
children - with their friends, or on their
own - there is always something challenging and fun to
extend themselves physically and imaginatively! This could be a
pirates ship, or it could be tarzan’s jungle -
and who know’s what could be around the corner!
It was our concern that the area under the towers would not be
utilized to the full, so we have built in seats and tables,
coloured windows, shop counters and Noughts and Crosses panels as
well as Mirror panels so that everyone from toddlers up would have
a wonderful adventure when visiting this wonderful new
attraction..
The parents’ benches on the grass nearby are an ideal
place for parents to sit and watch their children - and
so there is a huge amount of parental involvement watching and
assisting their youngsters climbing and challenging themselves as
they develop overall body strength and balance.
The colourful towers are outstanding at the top of a bank of
huge slides - and in blue, green and yellow they will
continue to be attractive and exciting to all playground
users. The view from the central highest tower will offer a
lookout over the whole playground where children can spot their
friends, brothers or sisters, and wave to them from a point of
advantage!
The colourful play panels at the top of the banks are attractive
and fun - allowing the children to look through and see
the playground in red, yellow or orange - or to see
themselves in the mirrors, or to look through the see-through
window and look out at other children in the playground.
It is wonderful to watch children of all ages playing on the
equipment, making the best of every opportunity to extend
themselves and to enhance their enjoyment to the full! The
parents’ days are also fun and eventful as they watch their
children extending and challenging themselves, and in so doing,
socializing with other children”.
Wiltshire-based Playforce prides itself on the ability to create
play areas that stimulate children’s imaginations and improve
social behaviour at the same time stretching their muscles. Each
piece of equipment is designed to work on developing specific areas
of the body and motor skills
This new installation has proved to be extremely popular, with
children playing on all parts of the climbing towers.
This whole development has added colour, excitement and lots of
play value to this wonderful play area for children. Its
popularity has shown that the attention to detail which was put
into the design has been well worth every minute. It will be
there for the future citizens of Bath and beyond to enjoy
- and at the same time to improve their overall physical
fitness and social skills.
Andy Chard said "Our brief was to design a feature that provided
maximum play value in a very narrow space, that particularly suited
children aged 7 to 11 years and that above all would form an
impressive visual feature in the centre of the play area. We have
been very pleased with the resulting multi tower unit as have the
thousands of children that have played on it throughout the
summer" Andy Chard, Parks Technical Manager, Environmental
Services, Bath & North East Somerset Council
Learn more about Playforce visit: www.playforce.co.uk