New play space: The Hepworth Wakefield

FPCR’s Landscape Architecture team developed a concept design for a new play space at The Hepworth Wakefield, responding to the gallery’s neighbouring garden and the distinctive character of its wider landscape setting.

The proposal explored how play, landscape and learning could come together within a flexible and inclusive space for gallery visitors and the wider community. Inspired by features of the surrounding landscape, the design used a series of elements that could be interpreted and experienced in different ways rather than prescribing how the space should be used.

At the heart of the concept was an inclusive approach to play, creating opportunities for people of different ages, backgrounds and abilities to engage with the landscape.

The resulting design proposed an open-ended environment where play could evolve through imagination, community involvement and individual experience, while creating a strong relationship with the architecture, gardens and wider setting of The Hepworth Wakefield.