Schools

How we are designing New Zealand’s new generation of school playspaces.

After years of working in the playground building industry, we were tired of hearing from customers who were frustrated with the complicated process of designing and building playspaces and outdoor learning environments.

The standard process of building a playground involved working with multiple partners. Partners like landscape architects, construction companies, and equipment suppliers. Often, these companies were siloed in their own areas of expertise and unable to deliver the complete playground package.

We decided the best way to fix this was to start our own playground design company. A company that would bring together the services of landscape architecture, construction, surfacing and equipment supply, under one roof.

A specialised playground design service that could offer scalable design and construction services, a simpler customer experience, and ultimately, better play spaces.

Your Journey

What to expect when working with Creo.

We are ready to come see your site, meet you, and talk through your ideas, budget, time constraints, and goals for your outdoor space. During this visit we’ll also identify any consenting challenges that will need to be addressed in the design phase of the project – something that is best done earlier than later. We have a breadth of experience turning wish lists just like yours into reality for customers throughout New Zealand.

During this stage we will measure up your site or request a survey dependent on the site’s complexity. From here we sketch up one or two masterplan options for your outdoor space to discuss with you and begin formalising the ideas you like best. At the end of this process, we present you with a final plan of the playspace. As well as the final concept for your site, we also present a budget to complete the works.

Detailed design is where we take the concept and translate it into a series of layouts, levels and arrangement plans. Details are drawn to show how the site is to be constructed. This is a crucial step in communicating to the installation team what is to be built. At this stage, we also schedule out all the materials needed and set the overall project duration.

Now that we have final construction plans, the next stage is to work out the timing of the construction, access, staging and other preplanning that allows for the contract to be prepared. Crucial items and stock can now be ordered to ensure they are ready when needed for your job to start. We then have a prestart meeting, where you meet the contractor who will be doing the playground installation work.

The first stage of the works is to remove anything unwanted from the site. Areas are excavated, and the site levels are readied for your new playspace. This is often the noisiest part of the works and we often try to organise this over a holiday or quiet week in your program. This is also the week the children get the most enjoyment watching the diggers and trucks. Often this is incorporated in to the schools teaching theme for the week.

Once the site is ready, the paths, play structures and other items can be started. This happens slower than the demolition and involves a lot of material being brought to site to create the new space.

Once the site has been set out and new items constructed, the surfacing occurs. During this process, the grey rubble of the pre-surfaced site is transformed into a bright usable area. Surfacing is a fast process but is highly weather dependant as completely fine weather is needed before installation is possible.

Once the surface is down, finishing touches like sanding and planting etc. are undertaken. Sheds are constructed and installed, and purchased equipment will be brought into position.

Once the site is completed, a practical completion review is undertaken before the site is handed over for your use. We then come back a month later to check everything in the playspace is working as it should be before final completion is signed off.

To find out more about how Creo works with public playspaces call our expert team on 0800 000 334.