Colour Selection For Your Playground – Getting it Right

An important choice

The colours you choose for your playground can dramatically change the overall look and feel of a play space, so it is important to get it right! Unfortunately, getting it wrong can make a play space look unattractive and messy. This blog will explore ways to avoid disappointing colour choices and how to make the process simple.

The kind of atmosphere you create will depend heavily on the colour palette, whether that be an exciting adventure playground or something more passive. Often natural or muted colours and timber make the playground feel more passive, while bright colours can add more emotion and excitement to a playground.

Colours can also be used to produce specific associations, such as the history of the area or facility, as well as highlighting any themes you have chosen. Similarly, it allows designers to match the play space’s colours with a development’s branding or a school to their school colours.

Colour selection tips

Some people indeed have the art of colour selection; however, colour selection for playground equipment does come with its challenges. Despite this, we can share a few simple tips to improve the colour selection outcome.

Consult an Expert

You may not have given much thought to the colours of your playground, or you may already have a good idea of the palette you want to use. Either way, allowing the playground supplier to do the heavy lifting on colour selection has many benefits. Playground suppliers understand the colour limitation of certain materials and have the experience of what colours look great together. This doesn’t mean you can’t have input; in fact, we encourage you to provide the playground supplier with the high-level vision and base colours of what you want to see. If you have specific colours you want to include, the playground supplier will show you the best way to incorporate this.

Work with a Scheme

One of the design secrets to a visually pleasing final product is a sense of cohesion. Even if you are going for an earthy, rough-and-ready aesthetic, you want your play space to look as if it was designed according to an overarching plan, not haphazardly thrown together. The way to achieve this is to work with a scheme. You want to avoid selecting the colour of each component on a playground with many colours in the palette, as this often looks busy and messy. We recommend around three colours in a playground scheme.

Consider the Location

You may have an innovative and exciting playground design, but if you don’t think about how it will work with the site, the effect can be jarring and actually detract from the landscape. The easiest and usually best way to achieve a harmonious look is to choose colours that mirror the surrounding elements, such as earthy, natural colours for an outdoor park.

However, you are not restricted to using only the colours that are already there. Your playground could be a jungle-oasis in an urban setting, or it could be a spaceship that has crash landed in the bush. The point is to consider how the new playground and the existing landscape will work together. Use the site as a springboard for creativity rather than thinking of it as a limitation.

Colour selection with adventure+

At adventure+, we understand how colours and other visual elements can be used to give your playground its own unique character. We allow you to customise your play equipment with many colours and finishes. You have the opportunity to select the colours you would like to see in your playground from our extensive colour range. You can even choose different colours of timber. 

In contrast, many conventional playground suppliers have strict themes that you are limited to. Our creative designers will work with you to create a playground that complements the setting and expresses your design vision.

The latest colour trends

Before we go, a word on what playground colours are trending now.

Greys

Grey uprights have a clean, contemporary look and are highly versatile, just as at-home in inner-city schools as they are in leafy, outer-suburban parks. 

Greens & Browns

A combination of greens and browns evokes the organic world – choosing colours based on natural surroundings means they can never truly go out of style. Green gives a natural feel but is still vibrant and attractive.

Contact adventure+

Whatever the setting or design specifications of your project, you can rely on the team at adventure+ to make it work. We will work with you to deliver a solution that exceeds your expectations while staying within budget and achieving the perfect balance of aesthetics and functionality. Get in touch by phone or email today to discuss your next project.