King’s Park, in the central Scottish city of Stirling, is a popular outdoor destination park which welcomes countless visitors from across the nearby city and well beyond. One of the key factors in its appeal is the array of leisure and play opportunities it offers for families with younger children – in particular its play area. By early 2025, however, an upgrade to this space was in the pipeline, and Sutcliffe Play were excited to collaborate with Stirling Council to make it happen.

Planning For Play

Sutcliffe Play began by conducting a site survey, before finalising a design which met every aspect of their client’s brief. This project differed from almost all of their usual installations, as it incorporated just a single massive tower system unit across the entire space, rather than a wide selection of equipment. This compelled their team to adapt their approach, as they collaborated closely with Stirling Council to design a large-scale, bespoke piece which offered the same number of thrills and fun experiences as numerous different items.

As well as designing the unit itself, Sutcliffe Play also considered the sustainability and environmental impact of the overall project. As such, their design retained the site’s three existing slides, saving on wastage as well as the use of machinery and resources to produce new slides and remove the old. In addition, the new unit was to be constructed from FSC-certified natural timber logs, which would also reflect the rural environment and surroundings of the park.

In accordance with their client’s wishes, the unit would sit atop durable play carpet surfacing, providing the best foundation for rigorous play by children of all ages. During the installation itself, meanwhile, Sutcliffe Play also offered regular updates to the local community with a new progress page on our website, easily accessible from a QR code displayed on-site, which garnered almost 500 visitors and 1000 views. This demonstrated the fantastic enthusiasm for the new space, and the page enabled us to keep them updated throughout this ambitious project.

Fun For All!

Today, King’s Park’s play offering has been revitalised, as Sutcliffe Play's towering multi-play system – which incorporates a huge array of differing features, levels, access points and more – brings fun for children of all ages and abilities.

Once inside, visitors will find a scramble rope bridge, a timber bridge and a cluster bridge, each offering fast and easy traversal across the length of the unit. Finally, a centrepiece tower with roof provides ample shade and shelter, and a comfortable area for young users to rest and interact with friends.

As well as considering the play features themselves, Sutcliffe Play also remained mindful of their difficulty level and their locations across the unit – ensuring the overall piece would cater to a wide array of children. The layout therefore offers an incremental increase in difficulty, with the more straightforward features sitting closer to ground level in the east, and the more challenging features being found much higher up in the west. In this way, users are encouraged to embark on a linear, gradually uphill journey, which stretches their physical and exploratory skills.

Additionally, alongside its immense play value, an additional thematic flourish is also offered by the equipment’s aesthetic, with its towering structure and hilltop location providing a subtle nod to the area’s medieval history, and bearing a visual resemblance to nearby Stirling Castle (a popular tourist spot which is actually visible from the park itself).

Exceeding Expectations

James Aikman, Projects Officer for Stirling Council, said:

‘Sutcliffe Play worked closely and collaboratively with the council to design and install a fantastic bespoke tower system, which offers a huge amount of exciting play opportunities to local children while reflecting Stirling’s medieval history. They were open and attentive to our needs at every stage, and we’re delighted that they’ve given King’s Park the fun and fresh new fort that it deserves.’  

This ambitious project tested every member of our team in the very best way, and the results speak for themselves. We’re delighted to see that our work is already delivering unforgettable play experiences, which will compel families from near and far to spend precious leisure time here for many years to come.