Calthorpe Academy, Birmingham
Calthorpe Academy is a SEND school based in central Birmingham which caters to children aged 2 – 19 years old. Their senior playground lacked the appropriate physical and mental stimulation so they asked for our expertise to help design an enhanced space for play and relaxation. Our solution was to install a brightly coloured MUGA that inspired the children to get active and to enjoy sports, as well as a high-level trail, seated, a canopy in the school colours, and surfacing to make the area more accessible for wheelchair users.
Our Solution
The first aim was to open up the site by removing the overgrown areas and increasing the play space of the playground. We dug back into a large mound that couldn't be utilised behind the perimeter fence, which allowed us to push the fence line back by approximately 7m, greatly increasing the width of the main play area. Following that we installed Acoustic Fencing along the boundary to help mitigate the sound from the main road nearby due to the sites location in central Birmingham.
Once this was completed we worked to create a more inviting playful outside space. This was in part achieved by breaking up the dominance of grey tarmac in the playground by introducing different zones within the outside space, we did this by using a range of surfacing types including Play Grass, Play Carpet and Rubber Mulch.
