Chorleywood Parish Council asked us to design some natural play spaces that would fit in with the natural environment of the common. With so many local people using the area daily, it was important that the designs didn’t standout or look incongruous. We produced concept drawings for two Wildwood Dens that were close to public parking areas on the northern side of the common.
We brought in sustainably felled oak tree trunks from the Knebworth estate thanks to Maydencroft Rural. The area was checked for reptiles and amphibians and then we began excavating the holes to put the tree trunks upright in the ground. It was great to have such positive comments from local residents as we were constructing the dens and lots of families were keen to start playing!
The project construction took around 3 weeks and we worked closely with the parish council staff, particularly the ranger team. Once the play bark safety surface was installed and the post installation inspection was carried out by RoSPA we could open the dens to the public.
As a grand opening, we attended the ‘village day’ on the 8th of July 2016 and it was great to see lots of children climbing all over the dens and letting their imaginations run wild!