Wicksteed Playgrounds builds bespoke castle
Wicksteed Playgrounds has brought the designs of local primary school children to life by creating an impressive and imaginative playpark at Wilton Lodge Park in Hawick, Scotland.
Reflecting the history of the area, a large bespoke timber castle-inspired feature takes pride of place at the centre of the play area.
The custom-built castle is adorned with turrets, slides, climbing nets and monkey bars as well as a bridge over a moat and portcullis entrance to inspire the imagination of all aspiring kings, queens and medieval soldiers.
Around the castle, Wicksteed has created colourful wetpour surface designs with tunnelled grass mounds, swings, roundabouts, balance boards and a trampoline to keep visitors thoroughly entertained.
The £300k play facility was developed as part of a £3.64m park regeneration project, funded by Scottish Borders Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
“The children from three schools in Hawick were involved with creating the designs and ideas for the park and came up with the ideas of incorporating Hawick’s history and scenery into the design," commented Gordon Webber – Wilton Lodge Park events manager.
"The park proudly features a castle, river design, horse artwork and a common riding flag as part of the surface design.”
It was important for the play area to be accessible to visitors with disabilities and so a wheelchair accessible sensory garden was created as well as the inclusion of a wheelchair-friendly roundabout and a basket swing.
As well as the diverse range of play equipment, Wicksteed has included plenty of seating areas to enable everyone to enjoy this vibrant place.
Stuart Wetherell from Wicksteed said: “The new play park looks set to be a major attraction for Hawick families and visitors from further afield and the children’s brief gave us license to demonstrate our bespoke design creativity.”
