Wooden Playground Sets

Wooden playground sets use solid timber for their posts and platforms. The series holds 14 models. Timber surfaces are finished with water-based paint and metal fixings are electrostatically powder-coated. What separates this series from our other playground sets is material rather than design, so the choice largely turns on how timber behaves outdoors.

Timber's clearest contribution is visual fit. Its natural grain settles into wooded parkland and planted landscaping more readily than units dominated by coloured plastic, which is why botanical sites, campuses, boutique hotels and residential gardens with a strong architectural character tend to choose it. Its second contribution is touch: a timber surface heats less than metal in summer sun and stays less cold in winter.

In return, timber asks for regular maintenance, and that is a load to weigh at the decision stage. The protective coating needs periodic renewal, at intervals that depend on climate and shorten on the coast and in strong sun. On timber-framed units the joints loosen more often than on all-metal ones because of seasonal movement, so a monthly bolt check is not optional here. Moisture at the base of posts where they meet the ground, and splintering or cracking on surfaces, also need regular attention. Where maintenance resources are thin, a metal or composite frame may be the better answer.

The series spans a wide range of scales. Drop heights run from 50 cm to 200 cm and peak heights from 110 cm to 650 cm. Footprints extend from 330 × 125 cm to 1330 × 1090 cm and safety areas from 730 × 525 cm to 1730 × 1490 cm — roughly 38 m² to 258 m². That covers everything from a corner of a nursery yard to the centrepiece of a neighbourhood park.

Age suitability can be read from those figures. Models with drop heights of 50–100 cm suit pre-school children; those from 150 cm serve ages 3–6; and the models reaching a 200 cm drop height and 650 cm peak address children over six. Where a site serves two age groups, choosing two models at different scales from the series is safer than installing one large mixed-age structure.

Site planning is driven by the safety area. AHP 02 has a footprint of 610 × 560 cm — about 34 m² on the ground — against a safety area of 1010 × 960 cm, some 97 m², nearly three times as much. Nothing may stand inside it: no tree trunk, kerb, bench, litter bin or footpath, and the whole of it must carry impact-absorbing surfacing sized to the unit's drop height. Playground equipment falls under TS EN 1176 and the surfacing beneath it under TS EN 1177.

The sets are set on concrete foundations and anchored down. Timber units carry one extra siting detail: the base must drain, and post bases must not sit where water stands — decay in timber almost always begins there. Delivery, surfacing and erection are handled by our own team. Share your dimensions and target age range and we will identify the models whose safety area fits.