All To Play For

At Brent Cross Town, we’re creating places for all our young residents which is dedicated to play, with 50 acres of parks and, playing fields and 150,000 sq ft of indoor multi-sport facilities.

A 2022 study by the Association of Play Industries (API) uncovered that London falls short when it comes to providing children with areas to play. The report found that playgrounds can help tackle childhood obesity, mental health and sleep problems and that without outdoor play, childhood development can be significantly hampered. “The closure of public play spaces during lockdown and the effects on children has brought about a renewed appreciation of the importance of these community assets,” says Mark Hardy, Chair of the API. 

We couldn’t agree more – we think playgrounds should be at the heart of the community. A free and inclusive place where children from all walks of life can play together. When we’re young, everything from brain development to social skills is enhanced through play. Play builds confidence and promotes independence and creativity. It fosters resilience by helping children to solve problems, take risks and deal with setbacks. 

Heath Harvey is our Project Play lead and has plenty of innovative plans to spark the imagination of our resident children, young and old. “Brent Cross Town will have bouldering, slacklining, boules, scootering and teqball, which is a curved table that you play football across – it’s where keepie-uppie meets table tennis! Put a teqball table into a park and you’ll have a queue of teenagers right away. Sometimes it’s the less routine facilities that draws people in because they provide an opportunity to try something different”.

Play is just as crucial for older children, and often goes hand-in-hand with sport, which is why we’re accommodating traditional team sports, like football, tennis, basketball and hockey alongside challenger sports like skateboarding, BMX and parkour. Those wanting something a little different can tackle a mini- golf course, throw a Frisbee or dive inside a huge inflatable sphere for a game of Zorb football on the open grassed space at the heart of the playing fields.

We’ve started with Exploratory Park, which champions all things play and was designed with children at the forefront of our minds. There’s a climbing pyramid, seesaw, swings, monkey bars, and a long, snaking yellow slide running down the middle. You’ll find some unexpected quirky elements here too: triangles suspended from a wooden frame, alongside the wands for playing them. This is a park with something for all children, open morning until dusk, every single day. It’ll remain in place until Claremont Park and Clitterhouse Playing Fields open permanently and we’re proud to say it has already won a national design award.