Alliance Leisure Services were appointed by Brentwood Borough Council in March 2018 to develop a sustainable business plan that would improve the leisure facilities at King George’s Playing Fields. Their proposed and delivered development included the new, multi-purposed, Hartswood Pavilion; designed by Saunders Boston Architects and built by main contractor ISG, a new adventure play area designed and installed by KOMPAN and a water play best, designed and installed by Ustigate Waterplay, with award winning products by Vortex International. It was an absolute pleasure to work on a project that shines so brightly in benefiting the community; King George’s Playing Fields is a fantastic park that offers excellent facilities and a vast amount of activities for all ages and abilities.

Our design works were inspired by knowledge of Brentwood itself; situated only 14 miles from our offices and with much loved relatives in the area; we were aware 89% of Brentwood is green belt and were immediately drawn to selecting play items from our Watergarden and Nature collection.

To complement Brentwood’s green and leafy setting, the splash pad at King George’s Playing Fields includes a spraying Snail No.4 with Turntec™ rotation ability, a Sprig No.1, a Flower No.1, an Aqualien Power Flower No.1, an Aqualien Rain Forest No.7 and an Aqualien Spinner No.1.

To commemorate the two paddling pools of Brentwood’s past, the splash pad has two circular shapes, enabling a favoured area for every age group. The first circular area, nearest to the changing rooms and w/c’s, is dedicated to pleasing water play beginners and the second is dedicated to entertaining older, more confident children.

The low level, friendly Snail No.4 with 360° rotation has made itself at home in the toddler – junior zone and the taller, leafy, floral products, some with curvy stems, have taken root at the junior to teen zone.

Whilst a splash pad without any standing water is 100% inclusive; children are of differing ages and heights and at different stages of development so zones are developed within a scheme to ensure all ages and abilities can find their happy place at their preferred pace.

The two circular shapes that depict the former paddling pools are perfect in lending themselves to offering a zone of comfort for all water players.

Ustigate take pride in the knowledge that every project is unique. When research was carried out ahead of our design for King George’s Playing Fields, we discovered Brentwood has a volleyball team, that Brentwood handball club have been national champions five times and that Brentwood became the UK central hub for trampolining between 1965 and 1981; after George Nissen brought the new sport to the town in 1949 and eventually manufactured trampolines in the town. For these attributes and because Brentwood still has the region’s leading trampoline centre providing recreational and competitive training for all ages; we placed a Hop No.1 and Hop No.2 on the splash pad to provide the activity of bounce and splash and a Helio No.2 and Luna No.3 from award winning Explora to engage children to move, push, pull, spin and splash. Children enjoy a close up experience with water and a top to toe exercise with the Explora range because the different sized orbs and Twistnozzle™ invite all to manipulate and change the water direction.

The splash pad at King George’s Playing Fields in Brentwood provides an array of playful products that keep children active and entertained in play for hours and hours. As well as all the aforementioned, there is a multitude of ground sprays, a Sunspray with Twirltec™ enabling the creation of pretty, spiralling, water patterns, a Fumbling Five armed with five tipping buckets and three Tube No.1 cannons. There is also a Seaweed No.3 with its flame like leaves to represent the origin of Brentwood’s name, historically named and known as “Burnt Wood”, a Team Spray to ignite group play and last but not least, an attractive Helico with its two water spraying leaves that cleverly spin all by themselves!

All of the play items are programmed to run on a sequence and there are products that are grouped to activators to promote the interactive fun. The water management system is a PWTAG compliant recirculation system enabling Brentwood Borough Council to treat and recycle one body of water for safe play. Our scope of works included the design and build of the splash pad, kiosk, plant room, w/c’s and a changing places facility making KGPF splash pad a best place to play and be for everyone.

The splash pad at King George’s Playing Field in Brentwood received 37,000+ visitors in its first season!

All-Year-Round Facilities at the Hartswood Pavilion and King George’s Playing Fields

The new two storey Hartwood Pavilion is a modern replacement for a dated building that had served the Hartswood Golf Club since the 1970’s. The new building was sunk into the ground to reduce its impact on the green, open space and finished with composite cladding to complement its natural surroundings. The footprint of the new pavilion is larger than its former; now accommodating changing rooms, wc’s and showers for sports teams, the golf club house and bar and much more than before with a reception, café, TAGactive, a changing places facility, sensory room and a soft play area! At the rear of the Hartswood Pavilion, guests are invited to take a seat on the decking to enjoy refreshments and pleasant views across the golf course and bowls grounds. There are free to use play areas at King George’s Playing Fields but a small fee is required for the adventure play area and splash pad to contribute towards the maintenance and operative costs. To book activities in advance, please click here to visit Everyone Active at King George’s Playing Fields, Brentwood: https://www.everyoneactive.com/centre/king-georges-playing-fields/

King George’s Playing Fields, Brentwood also has 4 adult rugby pitches (utilised in the summer months for cricket), 5 adult football pitches, 1 junior football pitch, a skate park, beautiful formal and sensory gardens and four car parks. Crazy golf is run privately at Rascal Bay Adventure Golf Course. For more information, email info@rascalbay.co.uk Payment is made in the log cabin next to the crazy golf course and not in the golf shop.

Click here to read Alliance Leisure Hands over Activity Hub in Brentwood on 14.03.2022

History

Established in 1951, King George’s Playing Fields is one of 471 fields across the British Isles set up after the death of King George V in 1936. The fields were set up for outdoor games, sports and pastimes. All of the park fields had to have a suitably dignified entrance for the setting of two heraldic stones. These stones are located in two brick pillars at the main pedestrian entrance.