Across the UK and beyond
July 28, 2020
Across the UK and beyond
Three years ago we wrote a piece about the life of a treehouse builder. You can see that here and enjoy the videos.
A lot of water has gone under the proverbial wobbly bridge since then, so we thought it would be good to have another chat with the site teams and see what they loved about site life and what they could seriously do without.
Funnily enough there were some very common threads from all of them.
For all, the team they work with, was a real highlight. We have recruited great people to our teams and that shows. They seem to genuinely get on, have great fun on site and like and respect each other, despite the long time they spend away from home together. They are a unique bunch who all love being outside and despite some outrageous qualifications between them, wouldn't dream of swapping their life on site for life as a desk jockey.
The second common thread was about the variety and uniqueness of the places they are working at. We are working on some fabulous projects in some stunning locations across the UK, Europe and even further afield. Just being out in them day-in, day-out, again seems to make up for the time away from home. We've worked in a huge range of locations, from mountain forests, to grand gardens, local schools and village playgrounds. Every location is a new source for pubs, exploration, walks and their own adventures.
There's a lot of love for our natural materials. Working with them and almost nurturing them into their new life as an adventurous place to play for all. There's genuine good feeling about creating something that's beautiful, special, of its place and will inspire kids and families to play and create adventures together.
Rescued from Greece whilst working on the Timber Project, Archie the site dog is often on projects and he's almost as popular as the Greggs breakfast that many choose as the 'healthy' option to get them through the day. But, seriously, if you are working hard all day then I think you can justify their breakfast, whether it's the veggie breakfast box or serious meat eaters option.
And completely unsurprisingly if you saw this piece from 2016 there is a HUGE love for the cups of tea on site. Drinking tea outside always makes it taste better. Drinking tea outside when you're working on building a new adventure play project, evidently makes it taste even better still.
You can probably guess the most common gripe. It's the weather. When you look at this picture of Kirsty on site working through the sleet, you'll see why. They do work through some truly challenging weather and this can obviously have a dramatic effect on the ground conditions too. It's apparently not great fun tromping around in mud all day, even if you do love being outdoors.
Midges, wasps and flying insects were also unsurprisingly unpopular. Yes, they are part and parcel of living with nature, but they can, to coin a phrase, do one. Literally buzz off and leave us alone.
And apart from the time on the road getting to site, that's it. They really are that cheery and content. And if you needed proof, here are some pictures from their last few years on site, working together, creating playful, adventurous, inspiring places.
