Joshi’s Jungle Playground at Howletts Wild Animal Park

With its incredible history, compelling mission, and diverse array of animal inhabitants, Howletts’ new play space offered boundless narrative possibilities. Guided by this wealth of inspiration, we explored the many possible thematic concepts and agreed on the following solution.

A young Gorilla's Playground

Our play concept for Howlett’s play draws inspiration from the dynamic world of young gorillas and offers an engaging environment of climbing, swinging, and balancing activities alongside sensory games.

The play space was created to have a natural feel to it, enriched with themed elements that seamlessly tie back to the gorilla theme, immersing visitors in an imaginative and wild experience.

The main play has been called Joshi's Jungle. Joshi was a 30-stone, 13-year-old male born at Howletts to parents Kijo and Shumbaa, who was re-introduced to the Congo, after travelling from Howletts as part of the park’s Back To The Wild initiative in collaboration with The Aspinall Foundation. Joshi himself is one of their many genuine conservation success stories.

The play concept features a series of elevated decks and bridges winding through the trees, alongside a rope net maze, and themed groundplay elements. These play structures work to evoke a sense of untamed adventure, with graded challenges designed to captivate children of all ages.

For the construction of the play structures, we chose to use untreated Robinia, a long-lasting hardwood timber as the primary material. The cladding consists of Larch, arranged in a wonky and irregular fashion, with natural-coloured ropes and nets complementing the design. These material and design choices create a natural environment that blends seamlessly with the surrounding trees and landscape.

In addition, there is also a newly created ‘mini play site’ that is located alongside the Pavilion Restaurant, replacing the existing basic play area with a refreshed and inviting space. Nestled beneath ample tree coverage, the site offers natural shade, that creates a comfortable environment for visitors. This area is a bustling hub, as the seating around the playground also serves patrons of the restaurant, making it a central gathering point for families and guests.

Design

When it came to planning the design, we were almost spoilt for choice with the number of areas of interest to work with to create the play. You can see some of the areas considered here.

And then how this began to emerge as a finished design

As it was finalised, it came to life through the CGI's

Background

Howletts Wild Animal Park is a wildlife conservation park located near Canterbury in Kent. It is part of the Aspinall Foundation, an organisation focused on the conservation and rewilding of endangered species. The park was founded in 1957 by John Aspinall and has a strong emphasis on animal welfare and conservation efforts. The park is home to over 400 animals and 50 species, including Western Lowland Gorillas, Sumatran Tigers, and African Elephants. The park aims to preserve animals’ natural behaviours and prepare them for reintroduction to the wild and is well known for its large, naturalistic enclosures. Visitors can explore the scenic grounds while learning about its global conservation efforts.

Howletts is open every day except Christmas Day and you can see more here.