Holden Lane Primary School, Stoke-on-Trent
Holden Lane Primary school contacted us after we’d been recommended by various other schools in the Stoke-on-Trent area. They were looking to transform a playground that was nothing more than a blank tarmac area into an exciting playground to enhance the pupils playtime for years to come.
We sat down with the head teacher, school business manager and various teaching staff to discuss their ideas, budget, and how the space was to be used. They wanted to include a play tower with a nautical theme, a sandpit, a roadway area, a nature area as well, as a covered teaching area. Working back and forth with the school, various changes were made to the initial design and lots of additional products were added to create a playground the children would love.
The project included the following features:
- A bespoke pirate ship themed Play Tower with custom engraved panels and sail incorporating the school name, surrounded by blue Wetpour surfacing and our Wave Top Timber Stockade with gate to enable teachers to close the area off if needed. To complete the sea/pirate themed area we added porthole windows to the timber stockade, custom sea life engraved HDPE panels, as well as a sensory mural to provide another element of play to the area.
- Music panels were added to the stockade fence to add another element of interaction to the area.
- The school wanted to incorporate an sandpit into the playground and our sandpit play boat fitted in with the overall theme very nicely.
- In the central area of the playground we created a roadway for wheeled toys with zebra crossing, road signs, a speed bump and a central artificial grass section.
- A hobbit play house provides the children with endless possibilities and enhances the artificial grass area.
- A Interactive Water Wall and Splish Splash water trough cater to the water play elements that all children love.
- A nature area is a must for any playground and is one of the highlights; a timber edged woodchip area was created with Willow Wigwams, Stump Seats, Willow Screening, an Investigation Table, a Mirror and a bespoke Giraffe sculpture.
- Storage is a must for any playground, so we built a 3.6m x 2m Heavy Duty Timber Storage Shed with a engraved Mountain Top Traverse Wall mounted to its side.
- An outdoor learning area was created with a 3.6m x 3.6m Timber Pergola with Polycarbonate Roof, a Polycarbonate Painting wall, Chalkboard and Story Telling Throne.
- A Hopscotch, 1-20 numbers and A-Z letters were added to the playground to finish off the whole project.
Following the completion of the project, Holden Lane held an opening ceremony with the parents, teachers, governors and local press, leading to our hard work being acknowledged in an article for the Stoke Sentinel. With smiles all round, it was a great result.
