Schoolboy wins Guildenacre Playground design competition

A Suffolk Estate has announced the winner of its competition, which encouraged local school pupils to design their own adventure playground. 

After receiving over 50 entries, Helmingham Estate has selected Stonham Aspal CEVA Primary School as the overall winner due to the school’s unique and creative entries meeting the imagination,  build quality and entertainment value criteria, with Noah Richards and his design (pictured above) featuring a scaled model of a bird’s habitat coming out on top. 

Noah’s entry, which is titled “The Eagle Eye Adventure Play Area” and includes a helter skelter, bird watching tower, a bird’s nest basketball and rope bridge, was selected as the winning design  by a panel of judges, including Edward and Sophie Tollemache, custodians of Helmingham Hall and co-founders of Guildenacre.

As the competition winner, Noah, who is in Year 3, and the rest of his class will be the first children to enjoy Guildenacre, a brand-new play experience launching this summer in the estate’s woodland, before it opens to the public.

Open to schools across the county, the competition encouraged pupils to design a playground inspired by their favourite animal and its natural habitat as part of Helmingham Estate’s aims to inspire the next generation of budding designers and engineers.

An exhibition featuring some of the entries of the playground design competition will go on display in the renovated Grade II listed Wades Barn, located near the Guildenacre entrance.

Edward said: “We were blown away by the creativity and thought that had gone into every single entry, but we were particularly impressed by Noah’s attention to detail and the build quality of  his model.

“His entry is truly extraordinary and very inspirational, and we would be delighted to exhibit it in the barn. 

“Thank you to everyone who entered and a huge congratulations to Noah and Birch Class from Stonham Aspal Primary – we’re looking forward to welcoming you to Guildenacre very soon and sharing  the magic with you.”

Guildenacre, woven within a four-acre wood in the grounds of Helmingham Estate, will be a new play experience featuring four themed areas, designed and created by world-class playground designers CAP.CO (Creating Adventurous Places). 

Each of the playground areas is themed around one of the guardian animals and their habitat and features tunnels, slides, climbing walls, ground-level play trails, balance beams, bridges and an adrenaline-fuelled zip line, with another designed for younger explorers.

Rebecca Edwards, the Key Stage Two co-ordinator at Stonham Aspal CEVA Primary School, said: “This competition has been an inspiring experience for all of the children involved.

“It gave them the opportunity  to think creatively and see how their ideas can have a real impact beyond the classroom.

“They’ve developed valuable skills in design, communication, and problem-solving, and most importantly, a real sense of pride in their work.

“A special congratulations goes to Noah, whose design and model of ‘The Eagle Eye Adventure Playground’, won Birch Class a fantastic trip to try out the new Guildenacre Play Area, which they  are very excited about.”

Guildenacre is due to open this summer, with the project also including a separate new car park as well as modest refreshment and retail facilities.

For further information and to sign up to the newsletter to receive updates on Guildenacre, visit www.guildenacre.co.uk