Somewhere over the rainbow, dreams come true!

Ustigate Waterplay started the construction phase at their nearest possible opportunity and handed Nairn Splashpad to Highland Council a month ahead of schedule. The Highland Council now manage the facility on behalf of Nairn Common Good.

Nairn Splashpad is a community driven project with a heart-warming story to tell …

It is a lasting legacy that celebrates the lives of a local brave Highland boy called Hamish Hey, and his mother Susan Hey, both sadly lost their lives to cancer, Hamish when he was just eight years old in 2017 and Susan, following five years of treatment in 2020. Susan, husband and father Sam and daughter Lily set up the charity Team Hamish to raise funds for a new play area to thank their Nairn community for the love and support they received during Hamish’s illness and after Hamish’s passing. In just three years Team Hamish and the Nairn community, NICE, the Nairn Common Good Fund and the Highland Council have raised the funds and established Nairn Splashpad. The new water play area with zero standing water at The Links will generate much happiness for all ages and abilities in Nairn for many years to come. Bright and cheerful rainbows feature prominently in the design as Sam revealed rainbows hold a special place in the family’s heart, after one appeared in the sky on the day they laid Hamish to rest.

Red, orange, yellow, green and purple are the vibrant colours depicted in Nairn’s rainbows and to carry this bright and cheerful theme throughout the play area, all of the above ground products are in these colours too. Several products include Seeflow™ technology to reflect lovely, colourful shadows upon the pad. The colour blue provides a perfect basecoat for the pad as it takes the form of our encompassing sky and allows all products and rainbows to stand out and shine through.

Nairn Splashpad has a total of 17 water features with an inclusive bollard inviting everyone to push the button to start the fun. There is an Aqualien Flower No.2 and a 360° rotating Bamboo where two water jets meet in the middle to become one big cloud of droplets with a sparkling water effect.

In between all of the above ground items water players will find a variety of ground jets, each orienteering their way up in the air from the north, south, east and west. The design for Nairn Splashpad includes two Directional Jets, two Geysers and three Jet Streams.

The above ground products incorporate low level and high level items to maximise the interactive experience for all ages and abilities. There is a popular Fish No.1 that feels very much at home at his new seaside retreat, now offering small ones a spin and a splash and a make-believe ride.

Other low level items include Helio No.3, a product from our Vortex award winning Explora range that engages children in aquatic play and body movement. Helio is a bright orange textured ball with a north facing spout that entices one or two to gather round, spin hard and create a bigger splash. For those that love nothing more than being the ones behind the splash, there are two fully loaded Tube No.1 cannons armed and ready for lots of aiming and firing fun.

Nairn Splashpad is full of fun and a celebration of all things bright and beautiful, cheerful and home grown; enhanced with a Leaf No. 3, a Vine and Nairn’s very own Rainbow No.2. Follow the Vine with your eyes way up high and you will see two tipping buckets sitting amongst the leaves, willing to reward all below with a watering of their own. Whilst Leaf No.3 stands tall in bright orange with its Seeflow™ green leaves, there is promise of a showering rain water effect, no matter the weather.

The grand finale has to be Nairn’s very own Rainbow No.2; central in design, central to the heart of the matter and central to Team Hamish, the scheme and project as a whole. Rainbow No.2 is one of our popular and inclusive run through items that never fails to please with its three misting arches. All visitors are guaranteed plenty of fun, with a number of options to soak all sides. Nairn Splashpad is the first of its kind in The Highlands and an exciting new development for Nairn.