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London Play Design
Who are London Play Design?London Play Design is a dynamic Community Interest Company (CIC) dedicated to transforming underfunded Adventure Playgrounds and public spaces into vibrant community hubs. We work closely with local communities to understand their needs and create inclusive, creative, and engaging environments that inspire social interaction, play, and environmental awareness.Can I…
Description

Could you design something that gives children in London high-quality play experiences?

We’re inviting students and recent graduates to design play opportunities that make use of free or low-cost materials and are simple enough to be built by volunteers.

Winners in each category will have their designs built in an adventure playground and will be invited to be a part of the consultation and build process if they wish.

Entrants are also invited to exclusive ‘How To..’ sessions with play and design experts from LPD and Playrise. It doesn't matter if you don't know what an adventure playground is or what it means to maximise play value - we'll help you at these workshops!

We opened this challenge to meet the needs of London’s adventure playgrounds for fresh ideas that are realistic to build. We also feel strongly about supporting today’s generation of creative minds by providing the unique opportunity to learn and bring your designs to life.

For more information, please visit our Student Design Challenge webpage, where you can also download the full design brief. 

Here's a video about one of our recent projects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDRIKCJzXuA 

Duties
  • Choose from one of three categories: loose parts play kit, small structure/installation, or landscape and play zones.
  • Come to our 'How To..' sessions - a chance for you to learn, explore and get advice from our experts.
  • Design and develop your idea, creating a design concept that can be made from free or low-cost materials and can be built by teams of volunteers.

There'll be one winning design chosen from each category. Winners will be invited to take part in the consultation and development process, gaining industry insight by working with LPD to bring their designs to life in an actual adventure playground in London. 

Training
Entrants are encouraged to come to our 'How To..' sessions which will equip you to succeed in the challenge and develop your own design practice:

Tuesday 24th Nov 10:00am-11:30am -
How to Include the Principles of Play When Designing
with Max Mueller, London Play Design's Founder & Managing Director

Tuesday 24th Nov 12:15pm-1:45pm -
How to Design for the LPD Volunteer Model
with Kevin Siaw – London Play Design's Community Play Space Project Manager

Wednesday 25th Nov 10:00am-11:30am -
How to Approach Child-Focused Product Development
with Alex Meininger, Playrise's Founder & Director

Time commitment

You can work on your designs in your own time.
Once registered, you'll be invited to our exclusive 'How To..' sessions for entrants, which are on 24th and 25th November 2026.
Application deadline

Causes

UCL Departments

This organisation is one of our community partner organisations.

Like all volunteer recruiters we work with, they have signed up to our service standards, agreeing to abide by our policy on partnership working to keep you safe and supported whilst you volunteer.

You’ll never be out of pocket for volunteering through us – with in-London travel expenses to and from your volunteering guaranteed.

In addition, the team here at Students’ Union UCL Volunteering Service is here to support you throughout your volunteering journey – you can get in touch with us at any time.