VSA Facilities Mangement were looking to upgrade and expand the play areas at Easter Anguston Farm and invited ESP Play Parks along in May 2022 to discuss ideas and the options available to them.

The existing play areas were very popular, especially the tractor track area but they were tired and in need of something fresh and unique.

ESP Play parks were tasked to ‘Design and Install a new ‘Tractor Park’ toddler area that caters for children aged 0-6yrs incorporating a Farm theme accessible and inclusive for users regardless of ability.

The project should be designed to develop active and imaginative play and will encourage families to use the local facilities including the cafe.

The area needs to be fully enclosed but allow for occasional vehicles using the adjacent road.

Additional to this we would like to improve on the Junior offering to make this suitable for 6-12yrs with replacement of the surfacing to make an all year round play area’

ESP Play Parks meet with Alistair and the team, taking time to walk around the full site to gain a knowledge of how the farm works and who visited the play areas.

Armed with this insight our professional design team got to work on a complex brief involving resurfacing, refurbishing, removals and a full-on bespoke creation of a new ‘Tractor Track’ play area.

A second meeting was arranged, and the ideas presented to the board members which were received enthusiastically.

ESP Play Parks designed the new inclusive toddler and junior play areas of Easter Anguston Farm to exceed the aspirations of the board.

In doing so ESP Play Parks created a design unique to Easter Anguston incorporating a ‘Farm and Village’ theme with elements of equipment bespoke to the facility.

With a keen eye for detail, the highest quality equipment, and an abundance of play opportunity throughout, we offered Easter Anguston Fam a proposal both innovative and bespoke.

In the new ‘Tractor Park’ we created a completely new roadway that winds its way around the Farm and Village setting. Clever use of different surfaces allows for a sensory journey at every stage with low level play/musical elements carefully positioned along the route. We designed and created a bespoke Tractor multi play unit, a bespoke Barn themed multi play unit and a bespoke tractor trailer climbing element that each incorporate play values of climbing, crawling, traversing, sliding, balancing and role play along with stimulating cognitive, social, and physical development play aspects throughout.  The area included a chill out raised village hut for those all-important breaks in between play and well as the themed village hut and shops offering oodles of role play opportunities throughout.

Each low-level play panel either along the roadway or as part of a multi play unit was positioned at an accessible height for wheelchair users or indeed children in pushchairs and our multi play units are inclusive to all forms of play meaning children of all ages and abilities can play together as part of multi-level play.

Traditional toddler swings offering the first opportunity to experience the thrill of the swinging motion and a ground flush, wheelchair accessible carousel offered an inclusive spinning element for everyone which can be used seated or standing.

For the older users we incorporated within the design a bespoke Tangled multi activity unit which includes a challenge in the form of climbing, scramble nets, traversing, sliding, rotating, physical and cognitive development.

Our junior swinging area allows for all ages and all abilities to swing together with 2no flat seats and an accessible and inclusive basket swing.

John Booth VSA Chief Executive said, ‘We were really impressed with the presentation and the initial drawings and ESP Play Parks certainly fulfilled the brief! I was honestly blown away with the level of detail and thought put into our designs.’

Alistair Sinclair VSA Asset and Facilities Manager said, “From the outset discussing the initial design of our play areas, the presentation of the concept and all the way through to handover it has been so easy dealing with ESP Play Parks, Mike, Caroline and their sub-contractor, we are all absolutely delighted with the outcome which exceeded our expectations.”