Each playground is unique and therefore requires different surfacing solutions to provide the best quality flooring for everyone using your playground.
PlaySmart is here to give you a guide to finding what your playground or outdoor space may need. Our playground ideas aim to help you meet the unique challenges of how it is used, by who, and what hazards it may face.
Let’s explore the considerations you need to make before choosing your surfacing solution…
Nurseries and Primary Schools
The best surface for children’s play areas pays attention to the need for creativity that young children have, and the excitement and play that they require for development.
For the perfect space to play, PlaySmart’s RubbaSmart provides many options for creative playground designs for kids’ play area flooring with a variety of colours and patterns. Take a look at our previous projects that enhance the wonder of outdoor spaces and inspire methods of play for children of any age.
This classic wet pour surfacing solution can transform any play area, with fully custom and personalised colour, thickness and design, RubbaSmart can bring a unique sense of fun to your site. Regardless of size or previous play area flooring material, our wet pour installation process is available and simple. Wet pour rubber is best used over concrete or tarmac surfaces for a flat, balanced application, but for other areas, a sub-base can be laid where required.
High-Traffic Playgrounds
As play areas are used more often and more vigorously as the Summer months approach, durability and maintenance costs of surfaces come to the forefront of concerns for many playgrounds.
All of PlaySmart’s surfacing options come with aftercare services included and are designed for longevity. Therefore, regardless of your choice, you will see a definite benefit to your playground’s long-term durability and return on investment when you choose PlaySmart.
Our top choices for a high-traffic space such as a public play area or large school playground site are:
- JungleMulch Rubber Bound Mulch
- EPDM MulchSmart Rubber Mulch
- Green Frog Artificial Grass
JungleMulch Rubber Bound Mulch
Made from shredded recycled tyres, JungleMulch is perfect if you are, like many of us, looking to improve your sustainability. In the installation process, a minimal sub-base is required, making for a faster and cost-effective installation with less disruption.
A unique organic colouring process ensures that the vibrant rubber mulch colour stays bright over time with minimal maintenance required. The water-permeable structure of the recycled rubber playground flooring also provides flood and puddling protection.
EPDM MulchSmart Rubber Mulch
Another of our amazing rubber mulch options is EPDM MulchSmart. Recycled rubber mulch is not always appropriate for all play area flooring, meaning that a different blend of rubber aggregates is required. EPDM Mulch is a great alternative with even greater guarantees of durability and sustained vibrancy!
Even with extensive traffic, this option stays bright, and more importantly, for playgrounds designed for young children, doesn’t release any carbon or toxins.
If you are looking to cover old or damaged rubber surfaces with no fuss or expensive and intensive installation, EPDM overlay surfacing may be right for you. This option is becoming increasingly popular in a range of locations including pathways, mounds, embankments, and even erosion control areas, demonstrating this mulch’s amazing durability.
Green Frog Artificial Grass
Many are looking for a replacement for their natural grass outdoor areas, which can require constant care and are unreliable quality as the weather changes. If this describes you, then Green Frog Artificial Grass may be your answer!
PlaySmart guarantees our grass to last at least 8 years, but with the correct care synthetic grass can last for over a decade. This maintenance however, is much less intensive than natural grass, while looking perfect all year round.
Sports Areas
Your sports areas deserve the highest-quality surfacing, needing great slip resistance, drainage capabilities, durability, and a range of sports markings to create an amazing multi-use space. Flexcourt modular sports surfacing is the best outdoor sports court material to meet these requirements.
The ergonomic Flexion® structure of the rubber provides a great surface for any sport, from badminton to volleyball. FlexCourt’s Traxion® design also improves the bounce and grip of the surface, enhancing the experience of any sport, allowing for even greater fun!
As with any surface, accessibility is vital in sports courts, therefore, finishing ramps are available on installation of your FlexCourt surface, encouraging and enabling inclusivity in sports.
Flood Prone Areas
With April showers approaching, water permeability and drainage are some of the greatest concerns for playgrounds and outdoor areas across the UK. Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) are increasingly implemented in urban areas to combat the environmental damage and water loss associated with concrete and tarmac surfaces and inadequate drainage.
Therefore, PlaySmart provides multiple surfaces with this vital property, including:
- Smart Pave
- Corkeen
SmartPave
Our water-permeable SmartPave pathway and running track surface solution is a great option to provide areas of your playground with increased drainage. This is a great playground idea to help the drainage of playground where the majority of the surface cover is unavoidably non-permeable.
The porous structure meets SUDS requirements as the rubber aggregates formulated with polyurethane binder capture surface runoff and prevents puddling. This isn’t SmartPave’s only benefit however, this structure also provides high-quality grip and resilience providing the perfect pathway to meet accessibility and reliability concerns.
Corkeen
For larger areas of ground cover, Corkeen natural cork surfacing is a solution with high-quality drainage capacity. All weather surfaces like Corkeen are the playground essential to ensure consistent accessibility and enjoyment year round! Corkeen is a great example of our hardwearing, sustainable and safe surface solutions for any outdoor activity.
PlaySmart’s experts can help you make the right decision.
We hope that this guide has been useful to you in beginning your playground journey with PlaySmart. For more outdoor play area flooring ideas you can discover our more in-depth Playground Surfacing Quiz.
If you are looking for expert advice and playground consultation services, you can fill in our handy contact form or give us a call at 01564 742811. We hope to hear from you soon!