Kilburn Grange Play Centre: Timber-framed play centre with short-break facilities for children with special educational needs

The Kilburn Grange Play Centre is a highly contextual response to its setting within a remnant of a Victorian arboretum, designed as an immersive and tactile environment for children of all abilities. The centre provides internal and covered external play space, with specialist facilities supporting overnight stays for children with special educational needs. The design centres around the concept of ‘playing in and around trees’, interpreted through a distinctive timber-framed structure that evokes the experience of being beneath a canopy. A large central tree-like column anchors the space, with oversized branches extending to form the primary structural system. Natural light filters between these elements, casting patterns reminiscent of dappled woodland light. The result is an abstracted yet legible 'tree room' - a symbolic, spatial and sensory anchor for the building.

Materiality and landscape integration are critical to the centre’s design ethos. The building is conceived as an extension of the surrounding terrain - its undulating biodiverse roof dips beneath tree canopies and collects rainwater to support nearby root systems. Large roof overhangs frame key views while providing sheltered outdoor space, enabling a fluid transition between interior and landscape. The building’s relationship to the park is both functional and poetic - it does not simply sit within the arboretum but actively completes and extends it. Every element of the building supports the broader ecology of play, providing children with a layered, inclusive and evolving environment. The project embraces sensory variation and spatial richness, delivering a holistic space for care, creativity and learning.

Kilburn Grange Play Centre is part of a wider project which includes Kilburn Grange Adventure Playground, which you can read more about here.