LUC was delighted to accept the Excellence in Public Health and Wellbeing Award for Peabody’s Gallions play scheme at the 2020 Landscape Institute Awards.

Peabody commissioned LUC to create a bespoke play space for local communities in Thamesmead. Our design creates playable spaces within an existing but under-used park. It weaves in play amongst the trees and links areas using a network of routes for children to explore.

The design encourages contact with nature and the bespoke timber play pieces invite movement for all ages and abilities. Several character areas deliver a range of inclusive, informal and challenging play experiences. Birch Grove, for example, features a narrow, raised timber walkway through existing meadow grass and birch trees. It incorporates balancing play equipment, a hammock swing, ‘Sky Seats’ and willow ‘portholes’ framed high up within tree canopies.

The addition of the natural play area in Gallions Park aims to enhance the green space for residents of all ages with measurable positive health and wellbeing impacts, including reduction of social isolation, lowering stress, increased exercise. LUC and Peabody are working on a monitoring and evaluation study of these impacts, with encouraging early results.

Rosie Hammonds, LUC Landscape Architect, also received the Landscape Institute’s Student Dissertation Award. Rosie’s paper explores the perceived implementation gap between climate change policy creation and the delivery of goals within local authorities.

Read more about the Awards here.

Learn more about Landscape Design at LUC.