Case Studies

Interactive Water Play Family Slides Racer Slides Interactive Water Play Splash Zones

The Challenge:

Our customer wanted to turn the existing leisure pool into a highly interactive water play area for children of all ages and ability groups.

The intention was to increase visitor numbers and provide a facility the community could enjoy.

 Our Solution:

The features ended up being so successful that the client came back with two further requirements allowing our team to transform the area in three phases:

Phase One - £50,963.52

• Transform the toddler pool into a highly interactive water play area using Hippo's unique waterball feature.
• Themed waterball with large fish squirt on top
• Four arm mast on the pirate ship with large tipping buckets, shark shower, pipe falls and a large tipping bucket and splash board on top

After the success of Phase one, the client came to us again to see how we could expand on the water play offering. We were able to create an entirely new water play space on the poolside, utilising the water supply to the waterball previously installed. The introduction of an interactive water play wall was the main focus. This included a touch and sound game.

Phase Two - £47,776.35

• Expand the water play area onto poolside
• Interactive water panel with touch and sound (includes both Welsh and English instructions which the client can update)
• Span from waterball to mast on poolside
• Spray rail – high level. Water sprays out over the interactive wall panel onto the poolside.
• Wet pour safety surface laid on poolside

Phase Three - £36,425.50

• One additional panel. No water/sound – just standard interactive panel
• Themed sign
• Flooring – extend the flooring area from phase two
• Flume speed timer & traffic lights
• Four floats (penguin, hippo, walrus & lobster)

 The Result

The three installations have resulted in the pool at Newbridge being transformed into a highly interactive water play area for the whole family. The features were designed to increase water confidence in young children and provide big splash play for water-confident kids.

The biggest result, however, is that the Council like our features so much they want to incorporate them in the new Caerphilly Leisure Centre which is currently in the design stage.

Project feedback:

Lydia English, Centre Shift Supervisor - Caerphilly County Borough Council:

“Over the last two years, Hippo Leisure has installed many new water features, interactive wall/panels and splash pad flooring. The team at Hippo has been amazing and extremely helpful throughout every stage and installation.

This refurbishment has allowed Newbridge to provide an exceptional facility, not only for our community but for visitors for miles around. It’s now a fantastic destination creating fun and enjoyment for all families, whilst encouraging people to stay more active, more often.”

Interactive Water Play Family Slides Racer Slides Interactive Water Play Splash Zones Interactive Water Play Slides & Flumes

The Challenge:

Rhyl has a strong history of popular swimming baths, providing children's water play throughout the year. So it was hardly surprising when SC2 approached us with a vision to combine indoor and outdoor water play within one development to provide a safe and fun environment for all the family, all year round.

SC2 wanted the new attraction to be iconic, generate greater footfall, maximize viability, and serve as a catalyst for attracting other investment to the town centre and seafront.

Our Solution:

Hippo Leisure provided an interactive water play area and slides area including high and low-level areas in the indoor section. Our team also provided an outside water play area, utilising existing facilities to complete the impressive water play features that would help build water confidence and ensure plenty of smiles. 

The design is based around a high-level indoor platform and staircase that accommodates three slides starting from different levels on the platform. It also includes an indoor water play structure with various slides and interactive water play features, along with improvements to the existing outdoor paddling pool.

Indoor water play structure 

This section is based in a large pool with a maximum water depth of 900mm. It has beach entry at one end, allowing non-swimmers and swimmers to have equal play opportunities, and creating a safe and secure play environment. The pool also has two interactive water play areas - a large interactive play structure and a water confidence zone.

A large interactive play structure stands as the centrepiece of the leisure pool with plenty of big splash features. For those less water confident, an area of the play structure is dedicated to low-level play, with low-level features and smaller toddler slides.

The dedicated water confidence zone can be used at low peak times without the larger play structure, creating a parent and toddlers’ session without the need to open the whole pool area. 

Water slide complex 

This will provide a range of sliding options. All slides will start from a main staircase and platform structure. The slides to be provided are a 3-lane multi-slide, a wave slide and an Aqua tube.

Outdoor paddling pool 

Our team refreshed the existing pool, adding new features and a new layout based on making use of the existing water supply locations. 

Results:

Our team successfully created Wales's newest waterpark, catering for the whole family and providing a unique play experience for all weather conditions.

Project feedback:

Julia Goddard, Senior Business Development Manager at Alliance Leisure, says: "It’s fantastic to see this project come to fruition. SC2 promises to attract visitors from miles around, creating the perfect destination for active, adventurous families, whatever the weather."

Interactive Water Play Family Slides Racer Slides Interactive Water Play Splash Zones Interactive Water Play Slides & Flumes Interactive Water Play Family Slides

The Challenge

Freshwater Holiday Park contacted us with the challenge of transforming their pool, which had no pre-existing play features. Our team turned it into a highly interactive water play area suitable for children of all ages and ability groups.

The main objective was to provide a range of water play features aimed at increasing water confidence in toddlers and young children, using a unique combination of high and low-level water play features.

Our Solution

Our team provided features which will allow children to develop their water confidence and explore and discover their watery environment. At the same time, the features teach them how to manipulate the flow of water through channels and interactive jets:

Waterball

• Included are ‘fill n spill’ buckets, water cannons and water squirts
• The waterball is topped with an interactive mast joined to a second mast. Both masts have a range of high-level features, including shark showers tipping buckets and water wheels.

Toddler slide

• This slide was designed with an under the sea theme and included tactile surface/moving parts.

Four fish showers

• A fun water feature, this is made up of varying shapes and sizes and will gently squirt water onto people playing in the pool below.

Two tipping channels

We provided bright and colourful designs to capture the imaginations of young minds while providing learning through play scenarios.

Results

Fun, immersive, and interactive, the new features gave the holiday park a major visitor attraction that has helped increase confidence in toddlers and young children.

Interactive Water Play Family Slides Racer Slides Interactive Water Play Splash Zones Interactive Water Play Slides & Flumes Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Family Slides

The Challenge:

Bloxwich Active Living Centre approached us to transform the poolside of their teaching pool and turn it into a water play area for children of all ages and ability groups. With no pre-existing water play features, our customer required the main pool to be free from play equipment. This would ensure that children can play within the teaching area while the main pool is used for more traditional and advanced swimming lessons.

Our Solution:

Our team recommended a range of water play features which are well-suited to being installed poolside. This is all whilst aiming to increase water confidence in toddlers and young children using a combination of low-level water play features, suitable for those who don’t want lots of water splashing onto them from high levels.

When coming up with the design, we made sure our features were bright and colourful to capture the imaginations of young minds while providing learning through play scenarios.

Interactive wall panel (4m long)

The panel features a bright underwater design with a series of moving parts providing tactile, visual, and auditory stimulation. The panel is double-sided to encourage play on both sides and features several small water jets to bring water play to the area.

There is also a panel touch play package. With two sensors and two speakers, when a sensor is pressed an instruction will be heard via the speaker with a range of commands such as "blow bubbles".

Under the sea themed toddler slide

The slide features:

·         A bright and colourful design 

·         A tactile surface

·         Moving elements 

·         Mirrors

All these features bring an additional element of play and excitement to a traditional toddler slide. 

Snake squirt:

The snake features a series of moving water jets along its detailed body, allowing children the enjoyment of manipulating the flow of water to the jets by covering different jets. It is a fantastic feature to help children who are starting to get confident with water.

Results:

The old poolside has been transformed into a bright and colourful interactive water play area, with new life injected into it. Through a wide variety of tactile, auditory and visual interactive features, the transformed play area keeps children and families entertained; all whilst allowing the centre to run additional play sessions on the poolside.

Client Feedback:

‘Although Bloxwich Active Living Centre was only eighteen months old, we recognised that the traditional teaching pool was not attracting young families for recreational swimming to the levels that it should have, given the local demographics. The team at Hippo were extremely helpful during the design stages, and the installation was done in such a way that disruption to the operation of the pools was minimal. 

Hippo’s product quality and aftercare is excellent, and the impact in the first year was a 32% increase in usage by under five’s and a 22% income increase for pay as you swim sessions in that pool alone.’

Stuart Webb, Acting Service Manager.

Interactive Water Play Family Slides Racer Slides Interactive Water Play Splash Zones Interactive Water Play Slides & Flumes Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Family Slides

The Challenge:

Having worked with the Royal Bough of Windsor and Maidenhead at both Magnet Leisure Centre and Windsor Leisure Centre, the client asked if Hippo could create some ideas for leisure and teaching at a new site in Braywick. 

We worked closely with the council and their design team over the course of 12 months to come up with several options before being asked if we could carry out a full design of our layouts.

 Our Solution:

- The project included features that could be used as a typical teaching pool during the week before expanding to become a leisure pool at other times. We also included a small water confidence area off the teaching pool – a great space for parent and toddler sessions. 

- As Braywick was a new centre located in parkland, the council were keen for us to include this in our design. As a result, we used a woodland theme.

- The raised platform has a range of fun features, and the overhang out over the pool integrates them into the teaching pool but allows the pool to be used as a teaching area when they are switched off.

- A wide slide off the platform to the pool side was based on a small wide slide we installed at Windsor Leisure Centre for the RBWM. Although only 5m long, it proved to be so popular across the age groups (even though they also had two large waterslides) that we had to feature a similar version at Braywick. 

Results:

Braywick, a new centre constructed in parkland on the outskirts of Maidenhead opened to the public at the end of September 2020. The final project value was £295K, which was well within their budget.

The Challenge:

Our customer had two existing flume slides with dated hanging systems which needed replacing with a modern system. One of the challenges was that a modern hanging system would only allow one slide to be operated off the platform, whereas their current system allows both slides to be operated off one platform.

They asked us to create a solution that would enable them to have two slides to entertain the pool’s maximum capacity of visitors during busy times. They also had a plunge pool used during teaching sessions and housed an aquacatch for one of the existing flumes. The customer did not want us to install the aquacatch of a new slide in the plunge pool. Instead, they wanted to add some play features into the pool to make their teaching sessions more exciting and encourage toddlers and children with low water confidence or a fear of the water to have fun in the pool.

Key highlights:

Solution

- Two slides were removed from the existing start platform and a new one was installed. The twin lane slide was installed in an old café area with its own staircase and start platform.

- Our team also recommended adding a selection of fish squirts to the side of the plunge pool. With bright and colourful imagery, they gently squirt water onto children inside the pool; perfect for children who are just starting to get confident with water.

- Finally, we recommended a large interactive wall panel for the inner wall of the plunge pool. This play panel was installed for use during fun sessions and teaching sessions. The interactive panels will help develop confidence and have an underwater theme plus a series of moving parts and mirrors. These are perfect for providing tactile, visual, and auditory stimulation.

Results:

The slides now appeal to a wider audience than the old flumes, including both children and adults, increasing footfall to the centre at weekends.

The new multi-slide allows children to slide and have fun together, with the lanes now wide enough to allow parents to slide with their toddlers. Play features in the plunge pool have added a fun element to teaching sessions whilst providing sensory play and development for those less confident.  Also, the commands on the touch and sound game are fully customizable and can be updated regularly.

Interactive Water Play Family Slides Racer Slides Interactive Water Play Splash Zones Interactive Water Play Slides & Flumes Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play

The Challenge:

Our customer, Arc Leisure Matlock, approached us with the challenge of increasing the number of people who use the toddler splash pad, by replacing the existing water spray features and providing play features to help increase water confidence in toddlers and children.

They were keen to help develop water confidence in all age and ability groups.

Our solution:

Our team replaced the existing water spray features that were in the splash pad with the following water features:

Water jets

- Several water jets shower and splash water on the children

- Children can have fun manipulating the flow of water with their hands to vary the flow of water in terms of quantity and speed. 

Interactive wall panel

- The wall has a bright and colourful underwater design with a series of moving parts and mirrors. This creates a great visual impact and tactile stimulation for toddlers and young children; particularly those with minimal water confidence.

- The panels are great for allowing parents to play together with their toddlers, helping them get involved with increasing their child’s water confidence.

- They also encourage small groups of toddlers/children to play together and enhance their social skills.

Results:

The splash pad we installed is perfect for confidence building due to the zero water level; making it the perfect introduction to water.

We transformed the old poolside water features into a bright and colourful interactive water play area, with a water wall and regenerated water jets in the floor. By making it visually appealing, we injected new life into the area. Various tactile, auditory and visual interactive features keep children and families entertained and allow the centre to run additional play sessions on poolside.

Interactive Water Play Family Slides Racer Slides Interactive Water Play Splash Zones Interactive Water Play Slides & Flumes Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Interactive Water Play Water Factories Splash Zones

Background: 

Hippo Leisure worked in collaboration with Cresta Leisure to transform the spectator area at Basingstoke Aquadrome into an ‘Under the Sea Splash and Play Zone’, aimed at increasing the fun appeal for toddlers and young children. The new children’s pool constructed by Cresta Leisure has been furnished by Hippo Leisure with a range of eye-catching, interactive water play features. The features are designed to encourage children to learn through play and increase their water confidence as they explore and discover their aquatic environment.

Play Features: 

The interactive waterball centre piece features a variety of water jets and is the first ever waterball to include internal lights which constantly change colour and can be seen

through round windows that have an underwater fishy theme. The lights are powered by a low voltage supply. The waterball has a variety of low level water features which are popular with toddlers and less water confident children. These include fill ‘n’ spill buckets, interactive hand wheels and cannon jets. One of the cannon jets feeds two interactive water channels which feature paddles, allowing children to control the water flow through them and let it cascade back into the pool.

The waterball is connected to the pool hall wall via a span pipe which houses four tipping buckets which create exciting, anticipatory play as they tip in a random
sequence and splash children playing underneath them. Two waterwheels spray children with water as they constantly spin around. The waterball also has a tipping bucket arm, a shark shower arm and a waterwheel arm which provide extra excitement! Finally, a pelican perched on one of the arms squirts water from its beak into the pool. 

A variety of fish water squirts create a bright, fun and vibrant visual impact while gently squirting water into the pool. The fish are part of a handrail on the open side of the new pool.

Finally, a set of interactive wall panels make up the wall of the water play area. The panels are themed with a bright underwater design and have a selection of moving parts and mirrors which provide tactile, visuals and auditory stimulation. The panels incorporate two sensors and two speakers. When a child presses the sensor, they are given a randomly selected instruction from the speaker to find objects on the panels. The sensors and speakers work independently to allow multiple instructions to be given at the same time, enabling several children to play with the panels together. The panels are perfect for encouraging water confidence.

Project Feedback: 

Hazel Tilbury, Chair of the Basingstoke and Deane Community Leisure Trust told The Basingstoke Gazette: “The Trust is proud of its new investments with the new ‘Under the Sea Splash and Play’. This new water feature is designed to enable younger children to gain confidence in the water whilst enjoying its stimulating and eye-catching design that’s educational, interactive and most importantly, fun. Along with the gym improvements at the Aquadrome we hope visitors and members enjoy using these new facilities”. 

Cllr Simon Bound, Cabinet member for communities and community safety told The Basingstoke Gazette: “We hope that the ongoing improvements we are making will encourage more families and individuals to make the most of these fantastic local leisure facilities. This is a great example of the council’s commitments to partnership working to improve leisure opportunities across the borough”.

Basingstoke Aquadrome Case Study

Interactive Water Play Family Slides Racer Slides Interactive Water Play Splash Zones Interactive Water Play Slides & Flumes Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Family Slides Interactive Water Play Interactive Water Play Water Factories Splash Zones Water Factories Splash Zones

Background:

Hippo Leisure have transformed the beach area of the leisure pool at Bath Sports and Leisure Centre into a highly interactive water play area aimed at children
of all ages and abilities. This was just one part of a £1million refurbishment programme at the Centre. The play features include a water factory, splash toys and wide slide, which have been installed to help encourage children and their families in the community to become increasingly active on a regular basis. A
variety of high and low-level features allows children to increase their water confidence through play as they explore and discover their aquatic environment.

Play Features:

The water factory creates fun and excitement for both toddlers and older children. A waterball which includes low level features will enable less water confident children to
play with a variety of fill ‘n’ spill buckets, handwheels and cannon jets as they control and manipulate the flow of water in various ways. The waterball also has an interactive mast which features three arms, each with a high-level surprise or anticipatory play feature. More water confident children, and even adults will love getting splashed and sprayed by the waterwheel, tipping bucket and shark shower. The mast connects to a second mast via a span pipe. The span pipe holds two small waterwheels, four tipping buckets and a pelican squirt. The second mast has replaced an old mushroom fountain and includes three interactive arms which feature a spray rail, large tipping bucket and shark shower.

Toddlers will enjoy playing with the two interactive water channels which are filled via one of the cannon jets on the waterball. Children can use the paddles on the channels to manipulate the flow of the water through them and back into the pool.

Two new slides have been installed. There is a bright and colourful aquatic themed toddler slide which has moving fish and a domed mirror to provide tactile play. There is also a custom built wide ramp slide which older children will enjoy as they enter the slide at the poolside and splash into the pool on exit.

On the poolside there are four large fish squirts of assorted designs and colours which create a bright and vibrant visual impact while gently squirting water onto bathers in the pool.

Finally, there are 2 interactive wall panels which feature a colourful underwater design and a large number of moving parts and mirrors to provide tactile, visual and auditory stimulation. One panel is fixed to the wall in the beach area and the other at the deeper end of the pool.

Installation:

Hippo Leisure worked in collaboration with Bath Sports and Leisure Centre to ensure that the play features were installed and ready for children to enjoy over the summer holidays. Hippo's play features are designed to allow easy updates or expansion in the future. This will give Bath Sports and Leisure Centre the opportunity to ensure the pool is kept fresh and appealing to help to maintain high regular visitor numbers in the long-term.

Client Feedback:

Barnaby Rich, General Manager at Bath Sports and Leisure Centre told Somerset Live: “This comprehensive refurbishment programme will allow us to provide outstanding, accessible and affordable facilities for the entire community, to get more people, more active, more often”.

Bath Sports and Leisure Centre Case Study