The PlayWorks launches Australian made nature play product line

Amid rising interest in concepts for nature play, Brisbane-based PlayWorks has announced the launch of Natura Playgrounds - a product range created to engage and inspire children through more natural play environments.

With PlayWorks having worked with Australian timber for many years and noting the growth in popularity in nature play in the early 2000s, the company has created Natura Playgrounds to connect children to nature as well as fostering health, resilience, joy and a lifelong respect for the natural environment. As technology has become more omnipresent in childrens’ lives - the company felt an increasing need to create play spaces that act as counterpoints to the increasingly isolated and digital lives of children.

The new range celebrates the elements of sand, water and Australian timber, designed to mix and match a natural palette for the environment it exists in.

Having worked with landscape architects for decades, the team learned over the years that Australian Ironbark stands out as one of the best materials to use in nature-based play. Not only is it particularly suited to Australian conditions, but its durability rating makes it a superior material to work with than northern hemisphere timbers.

PlayWorks General Manager, Don Wark, who has been designing and manufacturing playground equipment for schools, councils, landscape architects and developers for decades, explains “we’ve been producing nature based play materials for a long time now, so it’s great to see that we can finally put a product range together that is available nationally from our factory in Queensland.

“Landscape architects have been working with us for a while now helping to design the bespoke timber play structures made from our sustainable Australian Ironbark complementing sand and water elements that they use in their designs.”

Following the acquisition of PlayWorks by parent company The Play Collective (PlayCo), Wark took the concept to PlayCo Chief Executive Henry Greenacre who jumped at the chance to launch a product range using local designers, materials and suppliers.

A huge supporter of the initiative and bringing this to life as a new offering and now part of the broader PlayCo offering, Greenacre notes “whilst PlayCo was created only recently to harness the expertise of our subsidiaries, it has been an incredible journey to see this play out in one of our first initiatives in the launch of Natura.

“Initially this product will be available through PlayWorks and the Queensland based ForPark team, with a national rollout by end of year.”

PlayCo was created following the acquisition of playground companies Forpark, RhinoPlay and The Play Works.

The company was created to harness unparalleled expertise in design, one of the widest product ranges in the market and a service level backed by companies with decades in servicing the industry. As a collective, PlayCo has over 100 years of experience catering to landscape architects, councils, developers, schools, shopping centres, quick service retail and hospitality venues.

Click here to find out more about Natura Playgrounds via their listing in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.

Images: Installations at Denmark Hill Conservation Reserve in Ipswich (top), St Edward's Primary School in Tamworth (middle) and Grinstead Park in the Brisbane suburb of Enoggera (below).