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| Sector |
Public realm |
| Project type |
New build |
| Services provided |
Design Product / system manufacture Product / system supply Project management Installation |
| Year completed |
2018 |
| Project location |
South West England |
| Client |
Trull Parish Council |
| Products used |
Spider Shelter |
Ordered by Trull Parish Council, as a key feature of the local park development, the Spider Shelter is primarily aimed as a youth or teen shelter. However, its audience will likely be much broader than that, with the whole community using it as it's located next to a well-used, easy-going path and opposite the village pavilion and primary school.
Youth shelters seem to stir up mixed feelings in the local population wherever they are sited and this one was no exception. A range of opinions was voiced during installation, but mostly positive.
As with all of their sculptural youth shelters, Handspring tries to provide a fun, interesting, durable and safe place to hang out, which offers a multitude of seating and play possibilities – inside and out. Rain-protected, but not totally weather-proofed, the shelter provides through-views for the safety of those using it and those passing by.
The structure is primarily made from Douglas Fir, with oak used for the seating and at the top (spider web slats). The central column is one 3m-tall stem which Handspring turned into a tapered octagon using a chainsaw mill. Galvanised steel 200 x 100mm box sections have been used for the knuckles, feet and column connections and galvanised sheet steel was used for the roof and cladding around the seating. All steelwork was supplied by Tyree Fabrications. A local contractor put in the concrete foundations and will lay the final surfacing.
