How to choose or build a multi-play unit

One of the main benefits of multi-play units is how they enable you to make the most of your space available: with loads of different play activities spread across several floors, they can keep large numbers of children active and engaged at the same time.

Besides, by combining physical challenges with quieter educational games, they cater for children of different levels of ability or age groups, providing them with the opportunity to interact and play together.

Our Uniplay system, designed for children between the age of 2 and 12, has a unique modular design that will let you adapt any structure to your budget and space requirements as well as your design brief.

Mix and match colours, materials and play functions

1-Choose one of our off-the-shelf standard configurations

Looking for ideas? A standard unit may be the perfect solution for you, as our range comes in different materials and covers a variety of needs and aesthetic requirements.

Browse all the options presented below and feel free to contact our play specialists’ team to know more about the range.

Timber multi-play units

Best value

Timber & HPL multi-play units

Bright & hard wearing

Steel & HPL multi-play units

Low maintenance

2- Swap play components

Perhaps you’ve spotted a Uniplay design that would be perfect for your scheme, but you’d rather have a climbing net instead of a slide. An existing configuration can be adapted to your brief very easily by swapping play functions*; and with 50 components to choose from, you will be spoilt for choice.
* Our team of designers will work with you during the consultation stage to make sure that the new design meets current safety regulations.

3- Choose a custom colour scheme

Although our standard range already offers a variety of colour options, a lot of customers order bespoke colour combinations to meet very specific design briefs. We can manufacture posts, decks and roofs in any colour from the RAL colour chart* and create a multi-play structure with a distinctive look, whether you need a neutral colour palette or contrasting hues for a striking playful look.
*Subject to extra cost and lead time

4- Build your own UniPlay unit from scratch

Sometimes our customers require an entirely bespoke structure for various reasons: they want the play area to mirror the surrounding architecture or local landmarks, they have very specific constraints to deal with, or they just want their new facility to tell a unique story that will captivate the residents and make them feel proud of their local area.
UniPlay’s module system gives them the flexibility to combine posts, panels, decks, roofs and other components to create unique designs. Experienced landscape architects or contractors will have access to all the CAD blocks necessary to achieve this, whilst our design team is here to help people with no or little technical background, and make their vision a reality.

Steel or timber posts

Choose from bark brown engineered pine with galvanised steel footings, or take powder coated/stainless steel posts for maximum durability.

Timber or HPL panels

Panels are available in brown, red or green in a slatted design whether you choose our original timber look, or the durable and bright HPL option.

Decks in timber & HPL

Complete the natural look with bark brown timber decks, in square or triangular shapes or select hard wearing HPL in black with a non-slip surface.

Which is best for you?

Find out more about the materials we use in our UniPlay Range

Expand the possibilities of your UniPlay Unit

1- Connect two standard MultiPlay units

This is the easiest and quickest way to create a bespoke unit as it requires little additional design work, perfect if you want to scale up whilst having to meet strict deadlines. It also means that you can build your play structure in stages to match your budget schedule.

2- Build vertically

High towers have that wow factor that will make them the focal point of any play area, thus immediately grabbing the attention of visitors. UniPlay’s modular design makes it possible to add floors and build up towers as high as 10 meters.

3- Expand horizontally

The same principle applies to horizontal building, and triangular and square decks can be combined in multiple ways to create bespoke layouts.

Build your playground on a slope

Far from being an obstacle, the natural terrain can be incorporated into the design of a UniPlay unit and contribute to a stimulating play experience. As posts come in varying sizes they can be used to create a structure following the landform to make the most of a challenging sloping ground (Suitable play activities or ground floor modules will be recommended by our design team who have created thousands of challenging yet safe structures on a sloping play surface).
Besides, children are naturally attracted to interesting landscapes with changes of levels, so this configuration adds further play value to your scheme.

Incorporate the landscape as a feature of your MultiPlay Unit

Trees, shrubs, rocks and boulders help create a multi-sensory environment where children can explore nature, develop key motor skills and use their imagination; they also provide a habitat for a multitude of species, thus fostering biodiversity. There has been a great emphasis lately on how important natural spaces are to people’s health and wellbeing and how crucial their preservation is to our future. Therefore many customers will ask us to keep and protect these natural features when installing a play area. Keeping the natural setting intact also softens the visual impact of a playground, an important feature for locations with strict conservation standards and where the equipment needs to be sympathetic to the surrounding environment. Owing to Uniplay’s flexibility, we can easily overcome any challenge that landscaping elements may present by incorporating them into the design, whilst making sure all safety requirements are met and that there is no risk of collision. We can also build multi-play structures with high play value that can fit within a relatively tight space, for example between a pathway and a woodland.

Want to know more about how to create inspiring play areas with landscaping elements? Read our playscape design guide.