Adventure Playground at Newhaven Fort

The Adventure Playground at Newhaven Fort creates a unique insight into the fertile and sometimes crazy minds of Victorian inventors and inventions. It was also part of the brief to celebrate Victorian ingenuity and creativity rather than the guns and war for which the fort is known for.

This redeveloped space is part of a wider £7.5 million project to restore the whole site and reopen previously inaccessible areas, such as the Battery Observation Post and the newly-restored gun emplacements, which offer panoramic views across the Sussex coastline.

The finished playground features an array of attractions, including a whimsical dirigible floating above the play space, a shingle hoist climbing frame, a huge steel slide, toms of ground and toddler play and a cradle swing.

Working with English Heritage, together we found a solution to enable us to develop an ambitious play experience within the confines of a Grade 1 listed monument.

The finished play has been designed for families of all ages and aims to encourage imaginative play and outdoor exploration together.

Design

The play invites a bright and celebratory atmosphere to the fort. As part of this, we designed flags that reflect the semaphore language used and the bold and bright colours of the new brand. Using more quirky motifs such as moustaches and rainbows that lighten the industrial mood and create something unique to the fort.

You can see from this image the level of invention that Ardagh delivered on the build of the updated fort. The shingle lift was an Adargh invention and for us, just had to be featured. This was achieved with a chunky timber frame construction, black powder-coated mesh cladding with steel plate details and a pulley and tackle system as theming items.

There is another play structure that represents Ardagh's study where you can interact with the ingenuity of his work on an interactive sensory desk. Also, you can try on an array of moustaches on in his vanity area. All very Victorian and all great fun.

The dirigibles were very much a feature of the period and, in their day, were used to extend the view out to sea, as part of the fort's innovative defences. We used the height of our recreated dirigible to create views across the bay and a launch platform for the 5m high slide. the steam punk aesthetic was added as an extra layer to fire the guest's imagination. Access is via the high climbing rope bridge, which creates a genuine challenge for many.

A multi-person basket swing hangs from steam crane embossed with a rainbow that catches the light. This feeds into the concept of the fort being a construction site in the Victorian period.

The excavation shaft and signalling box were recreated to present an extensive climbing challenge that takes you high above the fort and if you're brave enough, rewards you with a newly created a signalling game at the top.

Overall, the landscape was carefully shaped to represent piles of spoil that would have been created during the Forts inception. We did this with a bound rubber capping on compacted gravel. These are central to the play journey at Newhaven and particularly good for little ones as roly-poly and clamber mounds.

You can see how this came to life in the CGI's

Initial thoughts

You can see from this initial sketch plan the huge number of ideas that were investigated. With any project of this scale, we always start with a deep dive into the stories, the people, the history and the local flora and fauna to look for inspiration.

There was almost too much content to go at here, so it was all about creating a phased plan for the build and ensuring we were able to deliver the maximum play value and visual appeal at a sensible, cost effective price.

Background

Built in the 19th Century, Newhaven Fort is the largest work of defence ever built in Sussex and is the last of a long series of coastal defences built on the cliffs overlooking Seaford Bay, with history dating back to the Iron Age.

In 1859, the Royal Commission during the administration of Lord Palmerston, were charged with the defence of the United Kingdom. They recommended building a new fort to defend the important strategic port of Newhaven.

The design of the fort commenced in 1862 and was overseen by 22-year-old Anglo-Irish Lieutenant and military engineer, John Charles Ardagh. At this time history, it was normal that the site be levelled before work began, but Ardagh saw things (very) differently. His plan was to work with and harness the existing contours of the land. These included a 40 foot wide moat, lined with concrete, protecting the northern and western sides of the fort. This was the first time this material had been used on any sizeable British fortification.

Equally, the main entrance to the north east of the site was protected by an Equilibrium Bridge - a form of draw bridge lowered and raised with counter weights - designed and patented by Ardagh himself.

The newly renovated Newhaven site is now open and welcoming visitors every day from 10.00 to 17.00.