Nature Play Space | Davies White Ltd in Ealing

Heaton Park is Manchester’s premier public green space, with woodlands, open parkland, gardens, a boating lake, and visitor attractions. Home to the Oasis homecoming concerts in 2025. The Lakeside Adventure Playground was designed to anchor the southern lakeside edge of the park, linking the café, boating lake, and surrounding woodland with a destination play experience for families and children of all abilities. The brief called for a bold, creative, nature-inspired play space that would engage across ages and provide an inclusive, adventurous environment. Community involvement was central, with surveys shaping priorities and a public vote choosing the playground’s name.

The playground officially opened in 2019, marked by pupils from Bowker Vale Primary School who worked with us to build a feature play bridge, design posters, and unveil the giant wooden welcome chair. Visitor feedback praised the scale and diversity of features, with local families highlighting the two giant slides, trampolines, and mix of natural play elements. Now one of two principal play areas in Heaton Park, the site is regularly featured in visitor guides and celebrated for its landscape-first approach. Key lessons include the value of designing for flexibility, embedding community ownership, and ensuring robust long-term maintenance. The project stands as a benchmark for inclusive, nature-based play and continues to inspire future developments.

Completed: 2019 Client: Manchester City Council Budget: £260K

Designed by Davies White Ltd with bespoke structures made and installed by Massey & Harris. The playground integrates play within a woodland setting using timber, stone, playful planting, and landform. It offers a wide variety of play opportunities: large slides, swings, trampolines, treehouse-style platforms, rope features, balancing logs, den-building area and water play pumps and stream. Accessibility was a key focus, with pathways and inclusive equipment enabling participation for children of varying abilities. Safety was embedded from the outset, with all equipment inspected by RoSPA prior to opening. The design balanced adventurous play with safety standards, addressed challenges of topography and seasonal water conditions, and ensured genuine community ownership through early engagement.