Buccaneer Bay, Dartford Borough Council

The leader of Dartford Borough Council, Councilor Jeremy Kite MBE was the driver of this huge playground refurbishment project (one of the best and largest that KOMPAN UK has been involved in). Dartford wanted to work with the best playground manufacturers and designers to fulfil the dreams of the leader and create a unique and immersive playground that would benefit the children of the borough for years to come. We worked with the council from the offset to select an appropriate theme that would offer enough excitement as well as the ‘wow’ factor. A pirate theme was selected, and some key ‘wow’ play features were also identified to build the rest of the playground around and create the immersive experience that the leader had envisioned. The theme was then brought to life with incredible 2D and 3D sea creatures as well as pirate theming (such as the crocodiles waiting to snap at cableway users). Bespoke carved barrels, mermaid and parrots were dotted around the play area with several palm trees to ensure that the play area was the fully immersive experience that the leader wanted. The final outcome was an overwhelming success. Not only were we able to install well within the incredibly tight timescales, factoring in two bouts of snow and inclement weather, but we were also able to constantly adapt and add extra features as the project progressed when the customer required. The customer was incredibly pleased with the process and outcome, as were the many families and children that have used the play area since the opening. The customer is so pleased that they have authorised a further £1m investment across several other playgrounds in the borough and are trusting KOMPAN to deliver these.