Waiuku Primary School

Waiuku Primary School’s new Junior and Middle School playground has been carefully designed to create an engaging and dynamic play space for students aged 5–10 years, supporting a wide range of active, social, and imaginative play experiences.

Working closely with the school, the design centres around delivering high play value within the existing footprint. The solution responds directly to site constraints, including retained shade poles and the natural slope of the area.

The project also addressed an ongoing maintenance challenge with the existing playground, where loose bark surfacing was regularly washed away during heavy rain, often requiring multiple reinstatements throughout the year. This was replaced with a durable, low maintenance Matta tiles, eliminating ongoing material loss and significantly reducing upkeep for the school.

The bespoke CT765 V8 design introduces two connected play experiences tailored to different age groups. A lower Junior Tower encourages imaginative and social play through features such as a shopfront and accessible slide, while the more elevated Middle School Tower provides increased challenge with a higher deck, wave slide, and under-deck net space that promotes exploration, interaction, and confidence at height.

A strong emphasis has been placed on physical development, with a variety of balancing and climbing elements including an incline balance beam, log stepper, and arc climber. These features are complemented by well-loved traditional play items such as a bubble climber, horizontal ladder, ensuring the playground offers both familiarity and excitement for a wide range of users.

Following completion, feedback at the playground opening highlighted an additional benefit of the Robinia Balancing equipment. School staff noted that the Robinia balancing equipment is being actively used to support students with additional needs, particularly for developing core strength, stability, and coordination. This reinforces the broader value of incorporating diverse and adaptable play experiences.

Despite the constraints of the existing site, the outcome demonstrates how a well considered, collaborative design approach can deliver a high quality, engaging play space. By addressing both play outcomes and practical maintenance challenges, Playground People has delivered a complete turnkey solution. The new playground provides Waiuku Primary School with a vibrant environment where students can build confidence, develop physically, and connect through play.