Children’s Play Area Design & Construction
Whether you are looking for commercial playground equipment, an adventure playground for a school or community, a rustic, woodland play area for your garden, or any other type of outdoor play area, we are experts in designing safe, durable, and engaging play areas for children and families of all ages. We can take care of everything from start to finish – planning, design, landscaping, and construction – so please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to discuss your project.
Our Past Creations
Our portfolio includes projects for large organisations and visitor attractions as well as local councils, schools, and private individuals. With our diverse portfolio we have incorporated decorative, carved animals, wooden forts and castles, pirate ships, trim trails, play trains, playhouses, tree houses, and seating into our play areas, in addition to traditional play apparatus such as climbing frames and swings. Below you will find a few of our past creations and if you scroll further down the page, you will find out more information about Flights of Fantasy and what we stand for as a company.
Holloway Hill Rustic Play Area
A rustic, natural looking play area that encompasses huge play potential in a small space. Read more about this play area.
Farnham Park Adventure Play Area
An expansive, rustic adventure play area that features a castle-themed centrepiece. Read more about this play area.
Hatfield House Adventure Play Area
A large adventure play area that features a themed replica of Hatfield House as a centrepiece. Read more about this play area.
Wallington Hall Station and Locomotive
A themed, woodland play area incorporating a train station and locomotive replica. Read more about this play area.
Abberton Reservoir Rustic Play Area
This natural play area incorporates wooden carvings of local wildlife to entertain and educate. Read more about this play area.
Samlesbury Hall Themed Play Area
A woodland play area featuring miniature replicas of Samlesbury Hall and The Mayflower. Read more about this play area.
Fountains Abbey Woodland Play Area
This expansive adventure play area spreads through the trees, offering huge play potential. Read more about this play area.
Animal Wood Themed Play Area
Incorporating carvings of local animals, this themed play area offers education and interest to visitors. Read more about this play area.
Wallington Hall Fort
This rustic, woodland play area incorporates natural play apparatus and a fort centrepiece. Read more about this play area.
Thameside Themed Play Area
Following a local quarry and lighthouse theme, this play area offers new levels of discovery. Read more about this play area.
Shebbear School Play Ship & Lighthouse
Following the nautical theme, this play area incorporates a play ship and lighthouse into its design. Read more about this play area.
The Secret Garden
Built for a private client in a back garden, this play area features a playhouse as a centrepiece. Read more about this play area.
Sandringham Adventure Play Area
Rustically themed, this adventure play area fits in naturally to its forested surroundings. Read more about this play area.
Winchester Tower and Pirate Ship
A connected multi-play tower and pirate ship are centrepieces in this back garden play area. Read more about this play area.
Kingstone Community Play Area
Robust and simple, this fort style play area is open to the public year round. Read more about this play area.
St Mary’s School Pirate Ship
This wheelchair friendly play area follows a nautical theme with a pirate ship centrepiece. Read more about this play area.
RSPB Newport Themed Play Area
Incorporating a local lighthouse replica and a ship as centrepieces, this play area follows a nautical theme. Read more about this play area.
Croft Castle Themed Play Area
Themed with its surroundings, this play area features a miniature play castle as a centrepiece. Read more about this play area.
Miniature Play Village
Featuring two playhouses, this adventure play area was installed in the garden of a private client. Read more about this play area.
The Pepperpot
A miniature replica of Godalming’s Pepperpot, this play area is instantly recognisable to locals. Read more about this play area.
Pirate Ship Play Areas
Children love pirate ships and our diverse collection of pirate ship play areas has been hugely popular. Read more about these play areas.
Gloucester Services Maze & Playground
We built two separate play areas at Gloucester Services northbound and southbound sites, one featuring a maze. Read more about these play areas.
Duke Of Cambridge Rustic Playground
Located in the garden of a rural pub, this rustic playground features natural timbers so that it blends in naturally. Read more about this play area.
Folly Farm Pirate Playground
Themed around pirates and the tale of Black Bart, we built this pirate adventure play area at Folly Farm in Wales. Read more about this play area.
Ffolkes Arms Hotel Play Area
As part of the extensive redevelopment at Ffolkes Arms Hotel, we built a rustic adventure play area in the garden. Read more about this play area.
Moss Lane School Playground
Incorporating a miniature replica, a tractor, a playhouse, and traditional play apparatus, this school playground offer lots of play potential. Read more about this play area.
Anderton Boat Lift Play Area
Based upon on of only two working boat lifts in the UK, this adventure playground imitates the real Anderton Boat Lift. Read more about this play area.
Robert Burns Birthplace Museum
Based on the birthplace and writings of Robert Burns, this themed play area encourages education through play. Read more about this play area.
Chestnut Wood Adventure Play Area
Rustic themed, this natural play area is made from sweet chestnut and incorporates multiple connected towers. Read more about Chestnut Wood.
Rushden Lakes Natural Play Areas
We built four natural play areas including a heron’s nest, otter den, sinking ship, and spider climb. Read more about these natural play areas.
Rustic Garden Adventure Trail
Rustic themed, this rustic garden adventure trail connects two play towers with balance apparatus. Read more about this play area.
Company Standards
We pride ourselves on making high quality, safe, bespoke play equipment that will be around for many years to come. Each of our creations forms a long term relationship with our clients where we offer maintenance and repair plans to ensure that our play areas remain in peak condition.
Creative Play Area Design
Built to be accessible, engaging, and welcoming, all of our designs are bespoke, thus unique.
Read about our design process.
Durable Play Equipment
Our play areas are built to last, capable of withstanding rough weather and boisterous play.
Read about durability.
Safety By Intelligent Design
As a RoSPA member, all of our work is rigorously inspected to ensure maximum safety.
Read about our safety standards.
Pushing Boundaries
With decades of play area design and construction experience, we can make anything.
Video: You Dream It, We Build It.
Natural, Rustic Play Areas
For a wooden play area that blends into natural surroundings, Flights of Fantasy are specialists in creating natural, rustic play areas. Using local materials wherever possible and retaining the organic, warped features of logs and branches, our natural play areas are cost effective, environmentally friendly and sympathetic to their surroundings. Below our some examples of natural features that we incorporate into these designs.
Natural Timber Apparatus
We can incorporate natural timbers in various arrangements to create climb apparatus that is sympathetic to its surroundings.
Rustic Seating
Picnic benches, regular benches, and split log benches can all offer visitors a chance to rest and extend their stay at your attraction.
Subtle Centrepieces
Using unpainted timbers, we can make large structures that integrate with other pieces of play apparatus, yet fit naturally with their surroundings.
Read more about different pieces of play apparatus that can be incorporated into your design.
Our Rustic, Wooden Play Area Portfolio
Below is a collection of some of the rustic, natural, adventure and woodland play areas that we have built in the past. Clicking any image will take you to the individual play area page where you can find out more information about the play area in question, as well as see more photos.
Themed Play Areas and Miniature Replicas
Almost all of our play areas follow a well thought out theme, however some of them follow very particular themes as they are recreations of famous landmarks – miniature, replica landmarks in play area format, if you will. Below are a few examples of the play area we created along with the original structure. We pay great attention to detail in order to capture the most defining features of each play area whilst still ensuring that we make an engaging and exciting play area. Please take a look at our miniature, replica landmarks page to see more play areas like this.
Read more about our miniature replica play areas here.
School and Community Playground Equipment
Whether it’s for a school or for the local community, we can design, construct, and install accessible, safe, wooden playground equipment. Themed to the area, carrying the school’s logo, or simply a varied multi play apparatus, we can accommodate any need and work to any budget. One of the key issues when creating school and community playgrounds is making durable play equipment that can stand up to continued and boisterous use. The number of years our play areas have been standing in such situations is testament to the quality of our work and the longevity of our play apparatus. Find our more about our wooden school playground equipment here.
Below is a small selection of our school and community play areas. Whilst any theme is possible, we have found that pirate ship play areas are particularly popular for schools, and the theme lends itself very well to imaginative and engaging play. It is also possible to make pirate ships that accommodate wheelchairs, making them accessible for all. Click any image to find out more.
Loved by children around the world, pirate ships have turned out to be a very popular theme for school playgrounds and we have already installed them in multiple schools around the UK.
Incorporating a lighthouse and a ship into the design, this themed play area at Shebbear school offers interactive play for all students whilst stimulating their imagination.
Decorated in washed out, pastel colours, Houghton Conquest’s 20 foot pirate ship is both subtle and memorable. Able to accommodate 20-30 children at a time, it has helped to raise the profile of the school.
Simple and robust, Kingstone fort-themed community play area incorporates a vertical climb net, slide pole, climb wall, slide, cantilever swing, swing bars, and an aerial runway into its design.
A miniature replica of Godalming’s famous landmark, the Pepperpot, Moss Lane’s iconic play area stands as a memorable centrepiece that is true to local history.
Highnam Under Fives Pirate Ship
The pirate ship play area we built for Highnam Under Fives is primarily made from natural wood, giving it that authentic, pirate ship feel, but we added a few splashes of colour for the children’s enjoyment.
A wheelchair accessible, panel pirate ship, St. Mary’s school centrepiece is a simple design, yet instantly recognisable. We also built a miniature playhouse for the school.
One of our very first school playground designs, Langton Green pirate ship uses simple, flat edges to create a robust structure. The pirate ship features a plank to boost children’s imaginative play.
Find our more about our wooden school playground equipment here.
Accessible Playground Equipment
As bespoke play area manufacturers, we believe play should be available to all. Whether you need a wheelchair friendly play area, an accessible playground for children of low mobility, or something more unique, we can meet your needs and make your accessible playground equipment dream a reality. Find out more about our inclusive accessible playground equipment here.
Find out more about our accessible playground equipment here.
Rooftop & Small Space Play Areas
We can design compact play areas for venues with limited room such as on rooftops. Just because you have a small space available, it doesn’t mean that you can’t pack in huge play potential – combining intelligent design and years of experience, we can make memorable rooftop play areas or play areas in any other space that you want to utilise. Please get in contact with us to let us know what space you have available and we can come up with a design that you will love. Below is a selection of our rooftop play areas.
Harley Street Clinic Rooftop Play Area
This project transformed a derelict area, overlooked by children’s rooms, into a woodland themed playground to ignite their imagination and help them feel happier on their road to recovery.
Gloucestershire Hospital Rooftop Play Area
This village themed playground had to be strong enough to withstand any wind on the roof and remain light so as not to go through it! Miniature sized, it offers a whole new world for children to explore.
Indoor Play Areas
We can utilise any indoor or outdoor space to make an appealing and engaging play area. Below is a small selection of indoor play areas that we have made in the past. You can see more of our indoor play areas here.
Smugglers Bar & Grill
A family friendly restaurant with a strong pirate theme throughout. Find out more.
Gloucester Services
Revolutionary service station with landscaped grounds and good food. Find out more.
Whisby Natural World
This play area tells the story of Whisby Pit’s history, offering educational play. Find out more.
Find out more about our indoor play areas here.
Pub & Restaurant Play Areas
Having an engaging and exciting play area is what makes the difference between a successful family restaurant and an exhausting experience for parents. We have created several indoor and outdoor pub and restaurant play areas that have resulted in popular family venues, leading to long term increased revenues. See our bar and restaurant play areas here, as well as feedback from visitors. Below are a few examples of bar and restaurant play areas that we have made in the past.
Find out more about our pub & restaurant play areas here.
Fully Customisable Play Equipment Features
Although every play area is unique, there are always traditional play elements, tried and tested through the years, that we like to incorporate into our designs. The play equipment features are fully customisable and include traditional pieces of play equipment such as slides, swings, and roundabouts, through to climbing apparatus and some of our own unique creations. Below are some of the play equipment features that we regularly include in our designs, but you can take a look at our play equipment features page to see a much wider range of what we offer and get some ideas for what can be incorporated into your design. For an added dimension, we also like to incorporate wooden carvings and themed seating where appropriate.
Slides
Large and curving, short and straight, or spiral tubes, we can incorporate a location appropriate slide.
Swings
From traditional swings to basket and cantilever swings, any option is possible.
Zip Lines
A firm favourite, aerial runways (or zip lines) offer a thrill for adventure seeking youngsters.
Rope Bridges and Nets
Using synthetic hemp that is long lasting, we can make an array of rope bridges and climb nets.
Agility Obstacles
Log climbs, wobble boards, and balance beams are a small selection of our past creations.
Wooden Sculptures and Carvings
Following local themes, we like to incorporate memorable wooden sculptures and carvings into our designs.
Rustic or themed seating and picnic areas give visitors a place to rest, encouraging them to stay longer.
Unique Features
You are limited only by your imagination – this ball run is unique and wheelchair friendly.
Trim Trails For The ‘Big Kids’
We like to make play areas that are inclusive for every member of the family, thus we offer trim trails that are specifically designed to offer exercise facilities for adults and older children. Take a look at our trim trails page which incorporate the designs that you can see below.
Getting In Touch With Us
You can get in touch with us us by email or phone and we will happily walk you through the design process. Typically it works something like this:
Site visit
We’ll visit you and discuss your play area in detail. This is an opportunity for us to find out exactly what it is that you are looking for so that we can make something you will love.
Proposal & Quote
We’ll prepare a no obligation design proposal and quote for you to decide on. If necessary, we can then make adjustments to fine tune the designs to what you want.
Return On Investment
We understand that a play area, as part of a commercial venue, carries with it an uncertainty. Using our experience we can discuss any plans you might have in advance so that you can be sure if a commissioned play area will provide a satisfactory return on investment. In addition to financial considerations, the staff resources of attached venues should also be considered as we have often had reports of dramatic increases in restaurant and gift shop takings following a play area launch. As experts in play area design and construction, contact us for a no-obligation discussion about your ideas.
Below is a small assortment of feedback that we have had from our clients concerning return on investment.
Essex Wildlife Trust, Abberton Reservoir:
“Since we had our wild play area created at Abberton Reservoir we certainly have noticed an increase in families coming to the visitor centre. Visitor numbers have increased by over Seven Thousand.”
Essex Wildlife Trust, Thameside Nature Park:
“The new play area has increased our summer holiday revenue by 80% and we’re now over-achieving on our yearly targets.”
Essex Wildlife Trust, Abberton Reservoir:
“We have had an increase in families visiting the reserve, and families that I believe wouldn’t have come to the reserve had we not had the play area, which means we are reaching a wider audience.”
Funding & Grants
If your intended play area is dependent on a successful funding application then let us know so that we can help it succeed. When quoting for a project we provide a written proposal, design sketches, example photographs, and accurate costings before any decision is made. By involving us early in the process we can more accurately tailor the design to the project so that it answers the brief of your funding, improving the likelihood of funding being awarded. To discuss how we can support your funding application, contact us for a no-obligation discussion.
Interested in finding public funds and grants? we suggest that you try one of the following options:
- Funding Central: Funding search tool.
- WREN: Community grants for areas close to landfill sites.
- Neighbourhood Statistics: For census data and statistics.
- You could also contact your local authority, third sector support organisation or a local community development initiative for advice.
Bespoke Design Services
There are very few – if any – play equipment companies in the UK that do quite what we do. We don’t have stock products and we don’t mass produce anything: Every single item of play equipment that we produce is hand made and one off. Whilst we do replicate many smaller pieces of play apparatus time and time again (such s log climbs, pull up bars, balance beams, etc), our use of natural timbers ensures that your play area will retain its unique charm. Our dedication to quality and several decades of experience making one off, fantastical creations ensures that your bespoke design will be everything that you want it to be.
Please get in touch with us and we will walk you through the design process to make your perfect play area.
