Big Dreams, But Not Enough Budget?

Create more with less

Big dreams, small budget? This is a common dilemma landscape architects face when tasked with designing a playground.

Whether you are working on a large residential development or a pocket park design, you want to create a play area that offers something different and exciting to children as well as bringing an aesthetically striking and complementary element to the surrounding space. However, achieving all this while working within a limited budget can be extremely challenging.

The challenge

In the case of a council play project, landscape architects often opt for an ‘off the shelf’ solution in order to stay within the allocated budget, but this option often fails to showcase the local themes or intended character of the project. The challenge is to create something big, customisable, and impactful without going over budget. In the case of a truly bespoke playground, where every piece of equipment needs to be designed and manufactured, there will be significant time and money expended to ensure it complies to Australian Standards. This can result in a much more expensive playground with insufficient play value.

Customised playgrounds by adventure+

There is no way around the fact that a bespoke playground, where each piece of equipment is designed and built as a one-off, is going to cost more than something that comes as an ‘off the shelf’ package. However, there is a third option.

The modular system offered by adventure+ allows you to choose from a catalogue of hundreds of components that can be used to build a one-of-a-kind playground, in much the same way a Lego set can be endlessly reconfigured. With over 15 roof designs, hundreds of play activities, and endless cladding options, you can achieve an ambitious playground design without going over budget. This also eliminates the need for additional engineering and auditing, and our system of quick installation further reduces the time and costs of construction. 

How it works

When you come to adventure+ with an idea for a new playground, you don’t need to have everything figured out to the last centimetre. You can bring in a sketch or images taken from existing play spaces for reference and we will work with you to arrive at a customised design that fits with your overall vision and complements the surrounding area. When you work with adventure+, this design process is free of charge.

Case study: Stanley Park North

The playground at Stanley Park North in Harcourt, country Victoria, is one example of how we configured our play components to bring a unique play space to life. Harcourt is a historic apple orchard town, and the landscape architects wanted that history to be reflected in the design of the play equipment.

By working collaboratively with the landscape architects, we were able to arrive at solutions that honoured their vision without going over budget. For instance, the central tower of the playground was constructed using our standard modular parts which were customised with cladding to evoke the traditional wooden crates used by apple pickers in the town’s early history as well as the red plastic crates used today. 

“We were able to make some simple modifications to a very standard structure to provide a really unique visual outcome. We started with one of their base modules that matched the kind of budget that was available and then we looked at how we could modify those in a cost-effective way to reinforce the theme.

“What was really beneficial was being able to sit around a table with adventure+ and work out exactly how we could push the design to provide the best outcome.” – Justine Image, Landscape Architect with Sentient Design

We started with one of their base modules that matched the kind of budget that was available and then we looked at how we could modify those in a cost-effective way to reinforce the theme.

Justine Image, Landscape Architect with Sentient Design

Start your project

At adventure+, we approach each project as a collaboration. With 38 years’ experience and hundreds of satisfied customers, we will work with you to create a play area that fits your overall vision and delivers an original, safe, high value play space while staying within budget. Call or email any of our five offices across Australia to talk to someone at adventure+ about your next project today.