Kennington Park Centre: A new community hub integrating adventure play and early years provision within a playable building

Situated within the green expanse of Kennington Park, this project brings together an Adventure Playground and One O’Clock Club into a single, purpose-built centre. The building design explores how play can be embedded into the very fabric of architecture, creating a series of interconnected interior and exterior spaces that invite exploration, social interaction and imaginative activity. Spatial variety supports a range of scales and forms of play – from den-like hideaways and cosy nooks to climbing elements, banisters to slide down and ladders that recall the pleasures of childhood. A high-level net stretches across the structure, offering children opportunities to scramble, rest, and observe the surrounding landscape, including the biodiversity roof above. These moments blur the boundaries between architecture and play, extending movement and social exchange throughout the centre.

The architecture expresses the dual programme through two distinct yet harmonised volumes, unified by a bold material strategy. The use of oxidising COR-TEN steel for walls and roofs creates a tactile, earthy presence that echoes the mature greenery of the park while adding a sense of permanence and warmth. The material’s evolving patina responds to the passage of time and the changing environment, rooting the centre firmly within its context. While Root And Erect secured planning consent and led the early design stages, the project was ultimately completed through a design and build process. Nonetheless, the core design intent – to create an engaging, robust and playful civic building – remains embedded in the finished form.