Manufacturing opportunities for play

A vibrant playground in the Victorian locality of Mambourin combines active and imaginative elements and offers unique opportunities for educational play.

Two impressive custom timber towers set the tone for a striking new play space in Mambourin, Victoria. Omnitech collaborated with landscape architects Tract Consultants over a 12-month period to design, manufacture and install two towers on a new estate managed by the Frasers Property group.

Omnitech’s team of in-house industrial designers designed both structures to meet Australian playground standards while remaining true to Tract’s original vision. The towers reach a height of six metres and are among the largest towers Omnitech has created to date. Each tower hosts multiple viewing platforms and a wide range of play elements, including a custom rope tunnel of more than three metres in length that spans the two towers; “crows nests” for viewing; a custom 20-metre-long double flying fox; and tube slides for all ages.

Within the towers, there are opportunities for children to participate in educational games. Australian native animals crafted from etched sheet metal have been scattered within each tower and children can match each animal with its English and local Indigenous names.

Omnitech prides itself on producing products that are Australian made, with the materials for the towers and rope play equipment for the Mambourin project sourced within Australia and manufactured in Omnitech’s factory in Somerton, Victoria. In addition to the manufacturing process, the towers’ timber elements were hand-painted at the factory and installed on site by the company’s in-house carpenters.

01 — The towers at the Mambourin playground combine tube slides, rope play and educational activities into a colourful play structure. Photo: Omnitech Playgrounds

02 — Plaques etched with images of Australian native animals are hidden within the towers. Photo: Omnitech Playgrounds