© Underdog Heavy Industries 1969-2011  Beech Hill Primary School At Beech Hill we were faced with a complicated site, which was enclosed on three sides by the school and on the fourth side by steep steps rising to playing fields.  The nature of the hill the school is built on meant that in effect the area we were developing was more or less a sunken garden.  The space was designated as a reception area playground but there was also a requirement to make it accessible to the nursery children. We were asked to produce a balance improving walkway, a bike track, sandpit, ball run and some musical equipment. We built a tower allowing the younger pupils to see out of the lower playground across the playing fields.  The highlight of this is the intricate window depicting a jungle scene.  This utilises many different coloured acrylics and painted framework to produce a window that is continously changing throughout the day as the sun alters position.  The bike track was incorporated with a curving humpback bridge and the balance skills area was positioned within the area. Another highlight of this site is the decorative sensory tunnel at the centre of the wild area.  The tunnel takes the idea of a dragon and abstracts it into a sinuous multi-textured structure with a wide variety of climbing species and richly planted surrounding beds. A double-sided music platform and willow dome were added.  Then we completed the site with a funky ball run to embellish an otherwise dull brick wall and a mosaic sandpit complete with a fully functioning crane.  A lot of brightly-coloured wet-pour rubber safety surface was laid to demark the different areas within the site.