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Playdale work with Waddesdon Manor to create a natural woodland play area
Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:42:27 GMT

Waddesdon Manor is a renaissance style chateau commissioned in 1875 by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. Situated in Buckinghamshire, Waddesdon Manor is now one of the National Trusts showpiece properties and a huge tourist destination attracting almost 300,000 visitors last year.

After previous experience of working with Playdale, Waddesdon Manor contacted us with a huge project with the aim of improving their visitor numbers. The idea was to utilise their woodland hillside area to create a number of play activities which would eventually lead down to the old stables which were being converted into a coffee and gift shop.

Creating a play area throughout the woodland seemed an impossible task at first, due to the severe slope, unstable ground and many mature specimen trees that could not be cut back. Drawing on our expertise and 40 years experience in landscaping and bespoke play area design we came up with a solution which would create different terraced play areas all linked together with a raised boardwalk. This boardwalk winds through the woodland and is fully inclusive allowing access for those with pushchairs and wheelchair users as well as providing a wonderful experience in its own right.

The National Trust chose our timber equipment as it was vital that the new play areas had to compliment and blend naturally with such a stunning environment. They were also keen for the equipment to utilise sustainable materials such as our green CGL panelling. Other features such as loosefill safety surfacing and retained log edging also helped the play areas to blend in with the natural environment.

This project is a perfect example of how our portfolio of products and experience in the industry can be utilised to create successful natural play environments.

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