Jupiter Play and Leisure won the SAPCA Award 2025 for Small Project of the Year for its work on an inclusive playground at Stanway Lakelands Community Centre, Colchester.
Jupiter was commissioned to design, supply and install a play facility aimed at encouraging children of all abilities to be able to interact and play together.
The brief
Colchester City Council partnered with Essex County Council Short Breaks for Disabled children and Young People to put together a brief that prioritised true inclusion.
The brief asked for the following elements:
• Physical play
• Imaginative and Social Play
• Risk and Challenge for all users
• Individual and Quiet Play
• Consideration to Rest and Recharge spaces including seating and shaded areas
• Consideration to materials and colours used as to not over stimulate those with sensory issues
By breaking down the different requirements, the brief helped to avoid tokenism.
The design
As a result of the clear brief, Jupiter designed and created a bespoke unit to provide a range of opportunities for different kinds of play, with sensory play being a priority. The colour palette was kept deliberately neutral, with gentle pops of blue helping connect to their community centre.
This allows neurodiverse children to not get overstimulated and be able to spend more time engaging with the play. Two outdoor “rooms” were created to allow children to rest and retreat from the main play without having to step away altogether.
The design provides a journey through the space, inspired by the adjacent community centre and country park, using landscaping, surfacing and planting elements to enhance this, and integrating sensory elements to stimulate sight, touch, smell and sound.
The most comprehensive element was the bespoke multi-play unit designed by the team to be fully accessible by wheelchair users. This is supplemented by a wide range of accessible and sensory play items such as accessible swing sets; dual-width slide; music and story ball; sensory zones; and inclusive assisted communication signage throughout the site.
A petanque rink for the adults was also installed adjacent to the cafe, and shaded areas with benches placed between.
The play area includes:
• An accessible sit-up swing, roundabout, and wheelchair trampoline.
• Wheelchair accessibility throughout the park including the opportunity to reach height.
• Sound bars, textured surfaces, sand spaces, and even a planting scheme offer sensory experiences.
• Dual slide for parents and children to use together.
The site is also PiPA accredited, highlighting it as one of the most inclusive playgrounds in the UK.
Social value impact
The primary goal of the project was to design a long-lasting, fully inclusive play facility.
Michael Hoenigmann, MD of Jupiter Play, says: “We wanted to create a space that children with special educational needs, sensory needs, and those with mobility related issues including wheelchair users, could play and interact alongside all other children.
“One of the biggest concerns for SEND children is a lack of connected community that allows them to play and develop alongside able-bodied children. By providing a space that has accessible features integrated into all elements of play value you offer an opportunity for children to connect and form bonds with one another, improving young people’s understanding of difference, and strengthening community cohesion and inclusion.
“The social impact has been immense. Local SEND schools are travelling to Stanway Community Centre to use the park and have highlighted how vital it has been for their students to have play provision designed specifically to meet the needs of disabled and SEND students.
“Teachers have spoken of seeing their students come alive when presented with the sensory zones and the chance to play on equipment usually inaccessible to them. The impact extends to disabled parents, with one wheelchair user speaking of how the accessible design had meant he was to be able to play in the park with his son for the first time.”
One of the key stakeholders to the project was Peter Dutch, CEO of Community Organisation ‘The Anti Loo Roll Brigade, set up to provide greater community cohesion during covid. His words beautifully sum up the impact of Stanway Inclusive Playground:
“I can look out the top window and see children from special needs schools and children in wheelchair’s playing with local children from mainstream schools. There’s no “ism’s” there’s no judgements. We’ve managed to create a little microcosm where everyone is accepted.”
