Rooftop playground gets better and better
Children at the Leicester Children’s Hospital, based at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, are the latest to benefit from the creative use of outdoor space as Playtop completes a 528 square metre rooftop resurfacing project.
Playtop Limited, the Newark based installer of impact-absorbing surfacing for playgrounds, was contracted to install the new play surfacing after Leicester Hospitals Charity secured funding for the project.
The large outdoor rooftop space on its fourth floor Children’s Ward, will provide children with a safe play area for them to enjoy the fresh air and have fun.
The surface design was led by Leicester Children’s Hospital who wanted a free flowing creative surface that would encourage, but not dictate, the activities chosen. Another factor to be taken into consideration is the wide range of users from babies to adolescents including those with special needs. After advice from Playtop, it was decided it should reflect nature and the outdoors by incorporating green areas with insects, daisies, and an area of rainbow colours. A play road meanders around the climbing frame and at the bottom of the slide a water splash cleverly indicates the landing area. The finished design creates a universal play area but it can be split into zones if required.
The funding for the refurbishment of this exciting new out door play area came from various companies, John Lewis being the main partners, with help from Wates Construction and architects Pick Everard. The Playtop surfacing being directly funded from Leicester based clothing retailer, Next and Rays of Sunshine, a Children's Charity which exists to grant the wishes of children who are living with serious or life-threatening illnesses. During the preparation work the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust provided further funding to replace the waterproof layer.
Once the roof was prepared Playtop, with help from Wates was able to lift the equipment and materials on to a spare section of roof and make a start on the project. In total three crane lifts were required during the 10-day installation process.
Paul Gent, Regional Sales Manager, said: “We were delighted to be chosen by Leicester Children’s Hospital to complete their rooftop resurfacing project. Hospitals need to be open 24 hours a day and access to project areas can sometimes be challenging. We kept any necessary interruptions to a minimum by thorough risk and safety assessments.”
Tina Clegg, Service Manager for the Children’s Hospital at LRI, commented: “I came across Playtop after my initial research into play surfacing companies. After further investigation I was impressed by the projects they had completed. I contacted Playtop to discuss the project further and subsequently found the advice and service I received was second-to-none. They are also a local company. We were delighted to finally be able to ask Playtop to start work. We are extremely impressed by the speed at which the team was able to complete the project and are very pleased with the outcome. We hope the children will thoroughly enjoy using the facility after its official opening in early 2009.”
Leicester Children’s Hospital is one of a number of hospital projects that Playtop has completed and as a result has become an expert in laying Playtop at hospitals. Other completed projects include Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Great Ormond Street, Whittington Hospital and Mary Potter Health Centre in Nottingham.
Learn more about Playtop visit: www.playtop.com