Construction has begun at Gloucester Gate Playground at Regent’s Park in London, featuring a complete refurbishment of the existing space. The project aims to create an exemplar playground that improves the current play value; caters for a wide range of abilities, age groups and cultures; and enables able and less able-bodied children to meet and play in a safe and accessible environment.

The Royal Parks commissioned LUC to provide landscape design services in 2016.

The site’s historical and ecological context within Regent’s Park  heavily inspires the play design concept. St Katherine’s Lodge was situated to the south of the playground before it was bomb-damaged during WWII. The rubble was spread out and mounded. Over the years the area has been reclaimed by nature through tree planting and various sensitive ecological habitats.

Gloucester Gate Playground’s design scheme by LUC

The character of this space has informed the approach for the new playground. It extends the undulating landscape and tree planting to thread, weave and embed play into the landscape using the texture and character of natural materials.

The design features several zoned play areas nestled within and on a large accessible mound; the names of which are based on old English names for woodland areas. The scheme seeks to demonstrate best practice by providing opportunities for social, creative and imaginative play. It encourages physical activities such as swinging, sliding and climbing.

Other features include a sand and water play area, a wheelchair accessible bridge across two mounds called ‘the Revetment’, and a 50m long zip-wire. All set within a sensorial environment of ornamental shrub, woven willow and tree planting to help soften the appearance and integrate it within the landscape of the park.

The project also seeks to maximise opportunities for community engagement by building on relationships with local community groups and users through a series of outreach programmes, in order to create a ‘local’ play facility; and the scheme will encompass a series of observational and user studies post-completion in order to measure its impact.

Learn more about Landscape Design at LUC

Learn more about the site from The Royal Parks