Colzium Estate is a popular visitor attraction in Central Scotland and the Estate boasts attractions such as the Museum contained within Colzium House, a walled garden which has featured on the BBC’s Beechgrove Garden, fantastic walks taking you past the ‘Lade’ and Colzium Castle which dates back to the 15th Century, a curling pond enthusiastically used today, a working theatre run by volunteers and a miniature railway to transport those with tired legs.
North Lanarkshire Council committed a budget of £160,000 for the proposed new play area, which was to be sited on an existing ‘pitch and put’ course approximately half a mile into the Estate, bound by hedging and mature woodland. The park users are predominantly day visitors to the Estate and, with this in mind, the project brief was to create a facility embracing all the park has to offer, educating the visitors through play.
The site for the new play area already had fantastic topography and we aimed to enhance this natural play feature by adding play equipment to the footprint where the open play philosophy is encouraged through careful and sympathetic design.
The mature natural backdrop of the park provided inspiration for equipment and material choices ensuring the new play area became an integral part of the park, complimenting its surroundings.
We selected challenging play equipment for children to adventurous teens, encouraging physical development, interactive play, the opportunity for solitary play, skills development and sustained enjoyment for frequent visitors. We also aimed to encourage social development by including resting/meeting points where young adventurers can rest, shelter and re-fuel before exploring more of the park.
At the heart of our design was our desire to incorporate the local history and features of the area within the park. This would hopefully ensure that the play area integrated successfully with its surroundings but would also encourage children and families to explore other aspects of the park by highlighting them in the play area. Included in our design, alongside the meeting/social points were the ‘Colzium Compasses’ where other established attractions within the Estate are introduced to the play park users. The compasses direct the young explorers not only to the challenging equipment within the play area, but to the sculptures situated within the woodland, the Castle and its history, the sensory planting and the Battle of Kilsyth Monument.
As with all Jupiter Play designs the flowing and contemporary layout adds dynamic to the whole park and provides an area which can be accessed by any user, regardless of age or ability, thus creating a space which is truly inclusive in design.
The official opening of the play area at Colzium Estate was marked with a fun day attracting families from all over North Lanarkshire. It has proved to be a valuable addition to the facilities on offer at Colzium Estate attracting visitors from near and far and ensuring that they enjoy all that the Estate has to offer.
Colzium Estate play area is seen as one of North Lanarkshire Council’s most successful destination play projects and is a best practice site visited by many. In 2007, its success was recognised by the Nancy Ovens Play Awards when it won the accolade of ‘Best Design of a Play Experience’.
Jenny Templeman,
Marketing Manager
jtempleman@jupiterplay.co.uk 0131 445 7989
