The Moor
Canalside, Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire
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What we do
The aim for Wildwood Structures is to :
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create wild natural play areas
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wild places and nature experiences for everyone
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promote healthy, active lives and
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advocate small risk taking during play
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inspire and equip future generations to tackle climate breakdown
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restore ecosystems
The appearance of Wildwood Den structures blend in well with natural and semi natural habitats but equally carry ‘wow’ factor in more built up environments. They are intentionally designed to not look too man-made or engineered and to inspire people about the beauty of natural materials.
Children can immerse themselves in imaginative and creative play. Seeing, smelling, hearing and touching are all senses that are elevated with the natural materials and natural surroundings. Climbing, crawling, jumping, hiding, hanging and balancing are all to be had but with no prescribed direction or ‘you climb up here’.
There is great potential for wildlife observation and learning whilst engaging in play. The bark fragments peel away over time and often have tiny creatures living behind them. Children can witness natural processes like the carbon cycle, fungi, lifecycles and food webs. This leads to a greater understanding of the countryside and the fragility of our natural environment.
In terms of carbon capture and biodegradability, almost every part of Wildwood Den structures is biodegradable. Over their lifetimes, the huge amount of carbon captured by the trees we use almost always outweighs our carbon emission impact during transportation and construction. The timber structures return nutrients to the soil and contribute further to carbon capture. Planted species (turf, plants and trees) not only benefit threatened wildlife species, they also create areas of natural beauty and sequester carbon.
Wildwood Den play areas are always made from sustainably sourced oak and other hardwoods from the UK. Not all of our trees have come from forest management, some trees are sourced from tree surgeons and other contractors. These trees are often destined for firewood and we'd rather see them release their carbon back into the soil.
ABOUT US
About Us
Wildwood UK was born from the desire to bring play and conservation together. We have over 25 years experience in managing wildlife habitats and 8 years in play area design.
Our aim is to create wild natural play areas, wild places and nature experiences for everyone. We promote healthy, active lives and advocate small risk taking during play. We hope to inspire and equip future generations to tackle climate breakdown and restore ecosystems.
Carbon and recycling
The large trees used in our structures have sequestered huge amounts of carbon over their life times. In creating our designs, we reconnect the trees with the ground and this continues to cycle carbon both in terms of decay and regenerating new plant generations that capture more carbon. We have no manufacturing emissions other than shaping the trees and hauling them to the project location. As such, our designs are carbon neutral. Most of our structures are biodegradable and will incur no disposal cost or impact any land fill site.
Sourcing timber
Our play structures are made primarily from English Oak. The trees are sourced from sustainably managed woodlands in the UK and can last up to 50 years. We prefer to support the UK forestry industry and will never import our timber. Not all of our trees have come from forest management, some trees are sourced from tree surgeons and other contractors. These trees are often destined for firewood and we'd rather see them release their carbon back into the soil.
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