Brands
Wooden play equipment, for sites where you want the equipment to settle into the place rather than announce itself.
Brands
A wooden playground is not only an aesthetic choice. In a park, outside a school, in the middle of a housing scheme, the equipment is seen every day by people who did not ask to see it: timber ages by weathering, where coloured plastic ages by fading. That is what gives it its place in municipal projects.
Extebois builds these structures in timber, and it is what we install when the project calls for that language. Wooden play equipment asks in return for more regular attention: the condition of parts in contact with the ground, the tightness of the joints, the absence of splinters on hand holds. Nothing insurmountable, but nothing that can be ignored for three years.
The standard does not change with the material. Fall heights, safety zones, gaps that prevent head or finger entrapment: the EN 1176 series applies to timber as to steel, and it is the impact-absorbing surface that takes the rest. We size both together, because a compliant structure on an inadequate surface is no longer compliant.
Layout matters as much as the equipment. A playground is drawn with its paths, its seating for the adults, its shade in summer and its sightlines from outside - equipment that cannot be seen from the street is equipment that gets damaged. See our playgrounds world.
For schemes that mix languages - a timber structure and metal modules - we install both in the same project, see Hags. Installation and periodic inspection are set out on the installation and maintenance pages.
The range
Towers, slides, bridges, climbing nets: the classic assemblies of a multi-age playground, in timber. The age range decides the heights, and the heights decide the surfacing.
A playground aimed at toddlers and older children is better treated as two zones than as a compromise: the compromise suits nobody and it is the smallest who gets hurt.
Benches, tables, shelters and fencing: playground furniture in timber, in the same language as the equipment. That is what makes a playground look designed rather than assembled.
Seats go where the children can be seen, which sounds obvious and evidently is not: many existing playgrounds have their benches facing away.
Timber needs a regular visit: condition of parts in contact with the ground, tightness of joints, sanding of hand holds. We set the frequency with you according to use and exposure.
The record is written, per item. On public equipment, it is also what gets produced the day you are asked to account for it.
Good to know
More than steel, and that is the trade-off to accept. A regular visit is enough: it is playgrounds left three years without inspection that cause problems, whatever the material.
We price that follow-up at study stage rather than letting it be discovered at the first complaint.
The EN 1176 series applies to this material as to any other, and impact-absorbing surfacing comes under EN 1177. We size both together.
A compliant structure on an inadequate surface is no longer compliant: that is the defect we meet most often on existing playgrounds.
Yes, and it is common: a timber structure for the language, metal modules for the items that suit it less well. See Hags.
What has to stay coherent is the surfacing, the paths and the safety zones - not the catalogue.
Tell us the site, the age groups you have in mind and what is already there. We will tell you what is possible and what it implies for surfacing and inspections.
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