BCA Landscape Architects came up with the concept of a Baobab tree slide as a centrepiece for a new play area at Chester Zoo, and Handspring Design turned the idea into an iconic sculpture.

The finished sculpture stands 9m-high. A 6m-long slide, provided by Timberplay, emerges from its side at the top of an internal oak spiral staircase. On either side the stairs are finished with a stainless steel handrail which spirals up the inside of the tree, providing the all important safety element to this unusual play structure.

No Baobab is complete without its crown of branches. The tree is adorned with laser-cut galvanised steel branches which were the final piece to be installed and turned the oak-slatted bullet shaped trunk into a truly magnificent Baobab.

Standing above the whole site, the tree is set to become a popular and well recognised addition to Chester Zoo's amazing collection of landmark structures.

The whole project was on a very tight timetable and Handspring had to grow its core team with the project and keep the wider Handspring family at full tilt for quite some time.