hgh has secured planning permission and Listed Building consent for a proposed outdoor adventure playground at the National Maritime Museum (NMM), Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG).
The National Maritime Museum is the World’s largest maritime museum. Situated within a Unesco World Heritage Site, which includes the Royal Observatory, the museum shares the stories of Britain’s epic relationship with the sea, including global exploration, cultural exchange, and human endurance. The new outdoor playground will further enhance the visitor experience, with its maritime theme drawn from the rich heritage of British ‘privateers’ within the Museum’s collection and the wider themes of cartography, navigation and exploration in the extended RMG collection.
The playground has been designed by CAP.Co, a specialist creator of play spaces, known for projects such as the Lost Garden at Blenheim Palace and the Spike Stage at Glastonbury Festival.
The proposed playground will expand and diversify the NMM’s status as a visitor attraction. This was an interesting project for hgh. Designing and siting a playground to sit immediately alongside such a venerable heritage building is a significant challenge, not least after the controversy that surrounded the temporary use of the Greenwich Park for the 2012 Olympics. The Museum engaged in extensive community consultation, which garnered a good deal of support, and the Royal Borough of Greenwich were alert to the benefits of children’s play in terms of education, physical wellbeing and mental health.
