Fosse Park Play Wall

Fosse Park Play Wall

Leicester

The UK’s first vertical activity wall, complete with a rubber floor, informed by a series of workshops.

Clients: The Crown Estate, Macgregor Smith

A large scale outdoor installation at Fosse Park in Leicester commissioned by The Crown Estate that included a graphic wall, a rubber floor design and a 15 metre window design for the UK’s first vertical children’s activity area. The colourful installation welcomes children and adults to the space by filling the area with positivity in the use of local cultural references and a warm and upbeat colour palette.

Image shows the children's activity area designed by Smith and Lewarne in collaboration with Macgregor Smith architects at Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.
Image shows a child playing on the children's activity area designed by Smith and Lewarne in collaboration with Macgregor Smith architects at Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.

Commissioned by the Crown Estate, the brief was to bring some much-needed life and excitement for young people to the otherwise exclusively retail space of the new Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.

Image shows the children's activity area designed by Smith and Lewarne in collaboration with Macgregor Smith architects at Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.
Image shows the children's activity area designed by Smith and Lewarne in collaboration with Macgregor Smith architects at Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.

The designs had to be informed by the local area, in particular the wildlife and cultural history. In addition to our own research series of workshops were organised with two local school and an older peoples' social group. The intention of the workshops were to explore these themes in different ways with people who had grown up in the area.

Image shows the children's activity area designed by Smith and Lewarne in collaboration with Macgregor Smith architects at Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.

The workshops generated many of the themes used in the designs, from the creatures imagined by the school children through to the industrial machinery that the older people all mentioned as being a factor in so many of the local peoples lives.

Image shows the children's activity area designed by Smith and Lewarne in collaboration with Macgregor Smith architects at Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.

Also referenced in the designs are the pipework and barrels of Everards Brewery which stood on the site until it was redeveloped.

Image shows the children's activity area designed by Smith and Lewarne in collaboration with Macgregor Smith architects at Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.
Image shows the children's activity area designed by Smith and Lewarne in collaboration with Macgregor Smith architects at Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.

Macgregor Smith developed the idea of the vertical play wall in order to maximise the play space available. We worked our ideas around the play wall, ensuring the designs were visible both up close for children on the play wall as well as further away for those passing through the space.

Image shows the children's activity area designed by Smith and Lewarne in collaboration with Macgregor Smith architects at Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.
Image shows the children's activity area designed by Smith and Lewarne in collaboration with Macgregor Smith architects at Fosse Park shopping centre in Leicester.

The Process

Engaging the local community is something we enjoy doing as part of researching and material gathering. Working with local people is a great way to foster a sense of civic pride as well as generating interest in a project.

We organised a series workshops with two different school groups and an older peoples’ social group. The sessions gave us a greater understanding of the context we were working within as well as providing us with material for the visual language of the outcomes.

Secondary school students were given an introduction into working with a specific colour palette, creating patterns and paper cut compositions. They were also encouraged to create cropping devices inspired by Sister Corita Kent, enabling them to examine their work in a different way and to look for interesting compositions and unexpected things.

We projected managed all aspects of the installation. The wall graphics were produced and installed by WithPrint, our regular production partners who have a wealth of knowledge and expertise when it comes to these sorts of complex projects.

The floor was installed by DCM Surfaces who worked with us to create a palette of custom colours and made sure our complicated designs came to life underneath the play elements.