LUC is delighted that Calverley Adventure Grounds in Tunbridge Wells was announced as the winning project in the Public Realm Category at the Civic Voice Design Awards this year. LUC’s Director of Landscape Design, Jennette Emery-Wallis, oversaw the detailed design and installation of the project.

The judges said:

“Calverley Adventure Grounds raises the bar in playground design and shows just what is possible with thought and imagination. Innovative play spaces are so rare in our communities, with Calverley the antitheses of this and is an exemplar for communities to be inspired by.”

The children’s playground was opened to much civic fanfare in September 2017 after a 16 month process of fundraising spearheaded by the local community and The Friends of Calverley Grounds group, in collaboration with Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.

The design concept for the playground was inspired by its setting within the Grade II registered historic public park of Calverley Grounds, the wider setting of Royal Tunbridge Wells and the surrounding Wealden countryside.

All the elements within the play space are designed to capture the unique essence of the location. The serpentine sand pit and planted borders are inspired by the stream that once ran through the Calverley Estate and through this site; play water tables celebrate the Chalybeate Spring which gave rise to the development of the town as an important spa, and timber play houses evoke the early beginnings of The Pantiles that sprung up around it. The Kentish rag stone boulders and woodland-style planting represent the encircling Common with its famous sandstone outcrops, and the hand-carved oak sheep represent the animals that once grazed the slopes. The surrounding farmlands, Kentish orchards and woodlands are depicted by a tractor and trailer and grid of apple trees.