How a housing development company keeps their communal and play areas safe and aesthetically pleasing.
Barratt Homes are currently undertaking housing development work on South Larch Road in Dunfermline, Scotland.
As with most new-build estates, the housebuilders incorporated dedicated areas for the installation of playground facilities to be used by the local community.
With sites like this, it is important for safety surfacing to be considered upfront at the time of planning. We have heard of many instances where playground equipment has been installed on grass but no additional safety surfacing has been installed, which has then delayed the opening of the playground – causing frustration for all the residents that are eager to try out the new apparatus.
Rubber playground mats are the simplest solution, and our range of outdoor play mats are easy to install and safe.
How Grassmats helped to meet Barratt Homes’ requirements
We supplied our rubber playground mats to two separate sites on the development, which benefitted Barratt in two main ways.
The first of which is obviously the safety advantages that our outdoor rubber matting offers. With a critical fall height in excess of 3 metres when installed on grass, a market leading value, our playground safety mats can provide a safe surface for all manner of playground equipment.
Read our blog to find out when safety surfacing is required: https://grassmats.co.uk/do-i-need-playground-safety-surfacing/
The second benefit is the ground protection that the rubbing playground flooring offers. These playgrounds are likely to generate high levels of foot traffic, which would normally wear the grass down and create bare patches of grass, further reducing the level of protection from falls whilst also being a general eye sore. For this purpose, these mats can be used as rubber garden mats, protecting the ground from wear and tear.
Grassmats Ltd arranged for the safe delivery of our products with the customer on the specified day, so they were ready on site in advance of the installation – ensuring a smooth experience for all involved.
Results
The playground installers laid our underlay mesh underneath the mats to provide an additional base layer, which helps spread the load placed on the mats – ideal for sites where ground is likely to get quite soft. Underlay mesh is normally used on clay soil or for areas which might be prone to flooding – although, please note that we aren’t stereotyping the Scottish weather!
The ground itself was quite gravelly which can sometimes slow down the installation if it is harder to fix the mats down with our plastic pegs. However, the full installation was still done in a single day.
With it being a newly created site and with the recent heatwave, there was very little grass on the site. The grass will, however, grow through our matting and further seeding is possible through the mats too should this be required.
The borders of the matting were cut into the ground to fully eliminate any trip hazards.
Recommended Products
Not sure if Playground Safety Mats are required for your playground?
Our team of ground protection experts can help – contact us on 01260 583 020 or at sales@grassmats.co.uk or using the contact form below for more information!
