Finsbury Park Over 8s Play Area
Work is now completed on the installation of the first phase of the exciting new over 8s play area in Finsbury Park.
The replacement of the old Red Play and Hope play areas started with a two-phase consultation during the summer holidays in 2017 and in early 2018. Local schools, residents, park users and park stakeholders were all consulted.
The outcome of the consultation was that the majority of people who responded wanted multiple climbing structures, a double slide, a zipwire and adventure play, natural play and Parkour.
We invited a number of the UK’s leading play companies to design schemes based on this feedback and commissioned the winner, Kompan, to build a new play area that meets these aspirations.
Phase one of the new play area will include:
- Super frisbee
- Agility equipment
- CocoWave pendulum swings
- Bird’s nest swing/shell
- Stepping pods
- Double width slide
- Rope bridge
- Parkour with Human flag wall
- Cableway/zipwire (single)
The centrepiece feature of the new play area is the UK’s first ‘Super Frisbee’ - a large, round, green climbing structure which will give over 8s hours of fun.
See the comprehensive Finbusry Park over 8s play area plan (PDF, 134KB)
Finsbury Park: The best play experience in the UK
Finsbury Park is one of London’s most visited, loved and active parks with something for everyone, no matter what age, ability or background.
The park already offers:
- a world class events programme,
- exceptional sports provision including:
- tennis
- basketball
- volleyball
- netball
- table tennis
- American football
- an athletics track
- American baseball
- disabled cycling
- bowling
- fitness training
- two cafes
- public toilets
- bike parking
- a boating lake
- two outdoor gyms,
- a skate park
- areas of nature conservation and quiet enjoyment
- the New River
- formal flower gardens
- arts and music organisations
- dog training,
- shelters
- and of course play!
The new over 8s play area that was installed next to the under 8s play area in the run up to Finsbury Park’s 150th anniversary in 2019 was the first phase of a two-phase play development.
We are now proud to announce that phase 2, the re-imagining of the Richard Hope Play Space, will make Finsbury Park’s play offer the best in the UK.
The new play area will include disabled play provision, a wi-fi and power-enabled flexible outdoor performance space and an exciting range of varied play equipment.
The space will act as an extension of the 2019 over 8s play area and will provide a range of exciting and challenging play opportunities for that age range.
The 2019 over 8s play area introduced the UK’s first ‘frisbee’ (Europe’s first green one).
This 2021-2022 play area will provide the UK’s first wi-fi-enabled play area and London’s first ‘jungle dome’.
The designs of the new play area, along with those for the 2019 play area were both developed and based on consultation exercises undertake in 2017 and 2018.
The results of that consultation indicated that people wanted to see the following:
- Multi-play climbing structures: 73%
- Double Slide: 63%
- Zip Wire: 62%
- Adventure Trail: 62%
- Wooden/Natural play structures: 50%
This development (ie Richard Hope Play Space together with the 2019 play area) delivers all that and more!
The Council has commissioned Kompan to design and safely install the play area.
The works will take place in three tranches, with tranches 1 & 2 (the majority of the play equipment) taking place from the beginning of February 2021 until the end of April 2021 and the third tranche (the wi-fi-enabled performance space and pathworks) taking space between February 2022 and April 2022.
Richard Hope was a young playwright and actor who died in May 1998 while out jogging in Finsbury Park. Formerly known as ‘the Pit’, the play space was renamed in his honour, and re-opened by the actor Warren Mitchell in August 2000.
‘The Pit’ was the site of a former GLC adventure playground and currently provides a casual, dog-free, picnic area and a natural-feel climbing boulder wall. The boulder play will be retained within the upgraded play area.
