Tower Hill, City of London
Situated immediately beside the world famous Tower of London and within sight of Tower Bridge, Tower Hill presented an unusual opportunity to create a new playground within one of London’s most historically significant settings. Working collaboratively with the City of London and landscape architects LUC, PlayEquip was appointed to design and build a new play space that would take inspiration from its surroundings while offering a varied and engaging environment for children of different ages and abilities.
From initial sketches to public consultation
The design process began with an informal workshop at the City of London offices, bringing together the client, landscape architects and PlayEquip’s design team. Rather than arriving with a predetermined design, we used the meeting to sketch, brainstorm and explore how the playground could respond to such a distinctive location.
Three themes emerged from the discussions: a cityscape, a dragon and a castle. Each drew inspiration from the City of London, its history, architecture and surrounding landmarks, but offered a different interpretation of how these influences could become play.
Following the workshop, we developed the three themes into separate concept proposals, which were then presented for public consultation. This gave the wider community an opportunity to influence the direction of the playground before the detailed design work began.
The castle concept was ultimately selected, taking inspiration from the fortifications, towers and historic architecture surrounding the site.
A castle within the landscape
Rather than creating a literal replica of a castle, we wanted to develop something more abstract and open to interpretation. The resulting structure uses irregular timber palisades, towers, platforms and climbing routes to suggest the character of a historic fortification without becoming overly themed.
The structure rises and falls with the surrounding landscape, creating different levels, routes and opportunities for exploration. Openings through the timber framework deliberately frame views towards the Tower of London, establishing a visual connection between the playground and its extraordinary surroundings.
The intention was to create something that felt appropriate to its setting while remaining, first and foremost, an interesting and challenging place to play.
Designing the wider playground
Although the castle became the central feature, the project extended well beyond the main structure. Working closely with LUC, we developed the wider playground layout, integrating a variety of play experiences, circulation routes, seating and planting into a coherent landscape.
Additional equipment included a robinia trim trail, roundabout, accessible roundabout, nursery swing, group swing and a separate toddler play structure. These elements provide opportunities for climbing, balancing, swinging, spinning and social play, catering for a broad range of ages, interests and abilities.
The arrangement of equipment was carefully considered to create different levels of challenge throughout the space, with opportunities for younger children to explore independently alongside more physically demanding activities for older children.
Seating and planting were also integrated into the design, helping to define the different play areas and create a welcoming environment for parents, carers and the wider community.
Our approach was to consider the playground as a complete landscape rather than a collection of individual pieces of equipment, ensuring that the play structures, surfacing, planting and surrounding spaces worked together.
Building within a historic setting
The location that made Tower Hill such an interesting design opportunity also presented considerable technical challenges.
The playground occupies an exceptionally constrained site, surrounded by existing trees, archaeology and centuries of buried infrastructure. Access was equally challenging, with the working area positioned between a busy public thoroughfare, a historic Roman wall and a red-route dual carriageway.
These constraints required careful consideration throughout the design and construction process. Foundations, existing underground services, tree protection, site access and construction sequencing all influenced how the playground could be engineered and delivered.
As a design-and-build project, PlayEquip was involved throughout the process, from the earliest sketches and public consultation concepts through to technical design, engineering, fabrication and installation.
Tower Hill demonstrates the value of developing playgrounds collaboratively from an early stage. By considering the play experience, landscape, historical context and technical constraints together, we were able to create a distinctive play space that responds to its setting rather than simply occupying it.
Project details
- Project: Tower Hill Playground
- Location: Tower Hill, City of London
- Client: City of London
- Landscape Architect: LUC
- Playground Design & Build: PlayEquip
- Scope: Concept development, public consultation proposals, playground design, technical design, equipment supply and installation, and wider landscape integration
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