Mad House Soft Play Centre - Royal Leamington Spa

For Wendy and her husband, the idea for The Mad House started with an opportunity.

They already ran a successful roofing business and had the chance to take over the 45,000 sq ft unit next door. Rather than simply expanding their existing business, they saw an opportunity to create something completely different: a dedicated indoor play space where local families could spend time togehter and children could climb, explore, jump, and play.

The result was The Mad House Soft Play Centre, a large jungle-themed indoor play area designed, manufactured and installed by Play Creations. The vision was straightforward.

The Mad House needed to be somewhere children would geniunely want to explore, whilst giving families a welcoming environment they could return to again and again.

The play area also needed to work for a wide age range, from babies and toddlers through to older children. That meant creating more than a signle large structure. Different areas needed to offer different levels of challenge, movement and play. For Play Creations, that meant starting with the space and the expereince rather than simply selecting equipment from a catalogue.

We worked closely with Wendy to develop a bespoke play area around the building, the intended age range (0-12) and the jungle theme. The design came together quickly, with the final concept approved after just one iteration.

The finished play area was built across three levels, creating a much bigger sense of adventure than a single-level structure could offer.

Children can move through the play frame, discovering different challenges as they go. Instead of having one obvious route through the equipment, the structure combines climbing, bouncing, spinning and movement to encourage children to explore it in their own way.

Younger visitors have their own dedicated baby and toddler area, while older children can take on more energetic elements including the Vortex Wheel, Spring Steps, Double Bay Trampoline, Aerial Glide and Bouncy Ball section. The planned fire route exit was also incorporated into the overall design of the play area.

The finished play area was built across three levels, creating a much bigger sense of adventure than a single-level structure could offer. Children can move through the play frame, discovering different challenges as they go. Instead of having one obvious route through the equipment, the structure combines climbing, bouncing, spinning and movement to encourage children to explore it in their own way.

The jungle theme gave the project plenty of opportunity to move beyond a standard soft play design. The aim was to create an environment that felt like an adventure rather than simply filling a building with colourful equipment. Themed elements, colour, layout and interactive features work together to create one complete play environment.

A good play area doesn't need to tell children exactly how to play. Some children will want to race through the structure. Others will spend ten minutes climbing the same section. Some will head straight for the trampoline, while others will find a quieter corner and make up their own game.

That's why variety was important within the Mad House design. The combination of climbing, bouncing, spinning and interactive elements gives children different ways to use the space, while allowing the play structure to continue to feel interesting as children grow and become more confident.

With an intended age range of 0–12, the design needed to provide that variety without treating every child as though they were looking for the same experience. The three-level structure includes a range of active play features, including:

Vortex Wheel – a spinning feature that moves as children walk around it.
Spring Steps – a bouncy challenge for children making their way through the structure.
Double Bay Trampoline – giving older children another way to burn off some energy.
Aerial Glide – bringing an element of speed and movement to the upper level.
Bouncy Ball section – adding another layer of active play at the top of the structure.
Dedicated baby and toddler area – giving younger children their own space within the wider play environment.
Planned fire route exit – incorporated into the overall design of the play area.

The result is not simply a collection of individual pieces of play equipment. The equipment works together as one large play environment, with children able to move between different activities and discover their own favourite parts of the structure. One of the advantages of working directly with a play area manufacturer is being able to develop the design and the finished equipment together. Rather than designing around a fixed collection of off-the-shelf products, Play Creations could take the agreed concept into manufacturing and create the different elements required for the final play structure.

With a project value of £75,000, Play Creations designed, manufactured and installed the finished commercial play area. But the project didn't end when the doors opened. Since the original project was completed, we've returned to The Mad House to add new features and carry out inspections and maintenance.

For a commercial play area, that ongoing relationship matters. A busy indoor play centre is going to see a lot of use, so equipment needs to be looked after, inspected and maintained, while the play offer itself can evolve as the business grows.

What started as an empty unit next to a successful roofing business became something completely different: a three-level jungle adventure built for children from babies and toddlers through to 12-year-olds.

From the initial idea through to play area design, manufacturing, installation and ongoing maintenance, Play Creations helped turn Wendy's vision into a working commercial play environment and gave local families somewhere to come and play.