Playground Charlotte Sharman Primary School

Developed in consultation with the pupils, the scheme replaces a previously uninspiring grey playground and is centred around two new timber structures, dubbed 'The Clubhouse' and 'The Stage'. These are linked by a new brightly coloured landscape painted onto the old tarmac.

The ambition was to promote 'dramatic inquiry', a term which the practice became aware of whilst working with education psychologist, Brian Edmiston, and which encourages education through storytelling and performance, creating a space in which the children can act out narratives in imagined spaces.

The creativity of the children was unlimited and gave license to the playground being understood as a fantastic marine landscape whereby the new built structures and play equipment were flotsam.

The pavilions are sufficiently abstract to encourage renewed interpretations from a pirate’s ship to a space station or an oil platform.

The pavilions are constructed of a steel frame and decking boards affixed to plywood.

At a time of public sector spending cuts, the project illustrates how it is possible to effect positive change through small-scale intervention.