Noosa Shire Council wanted to create a stimulating nature-based playground environment inspired by the agricultural and manufacturing history of the Cooroy region. The challenge was achieving this in a truly inclusive way that provided rich play opportunities and easy access for children of all ages and abilities, as well as their family members. Creatively, the vision was for the new playground to create a connection, both physical and metaphorical, between Cooroy’s main street and the historic lower mill site.

Standing 10 metres tall and 2.5 metres wide, the sheer size of the main play tower presented several challenges. To ensure the overall quality of the soaring custom structure, it was manufactured and pre-assembled under carefully controlled conditions at our Sydney assembly facility. The galvanised steel substructure was then transported in one piece by truck to Cooroy, more than 1,000km away. Another challenge was the fact 90% of the timbers used at Cooroy were natural logs. No two logs were the same, so attention to detail was critical. It took our skilled crew of carpenters more than 100 hours of delicate chainsaw work to custom profile all connections.

The Cooroy playground featured large amounts of hardwood timber. Ensuring it stood the test of time was a major consideration for Noosa Shire Council. Drawing upon the deep expertise of our inhouse carpentry team, we created a bespoke construction system that enabled us to combine natural log posts with hidden structural steel supports. These protected the timber by reducing direct contact with the ground, maximising its lifespan. 

• 10-metre Play Tower
• Double flying fox
• All abilities swings
• Timber log & net climbing structure 
• Timber bridge with rope balustrade
• Teepee

• Galvanised structural steel
• Stainless steel welded wiremesh
• Class 1 Australian Hardwood timber
• Climbing rope

Local and repurposed materials were used wherever possible. In addition to Queensland-sourced Class 1 Australian hardwood and logs, the playground features bricks manufactured at the nearby Cooroy Brickworks, concrete from the Brickworks kiln, electrical switches from the Brickworks, a stainless-steel cylinder from the timber mill repurposed in the main rocket ship play tower, windmill shade structures, timber recycled from several iconic local bridges, and even a felled ironbark tree.

Appropriate materials and finishes were specified for all elements of the play tower, in keeping with the bayside location. This included a 3-coat epoxy marine-grade paint finish to extend the lifespan and time to first maintenance of the structural steel elements, with 316-grade stainless components chosen for their superior corrosion resistance. All timbers were sustainably-sourced Class 1 Australian hardwood.