Creating Adventurous Places (CAP.Co), the adventure play specialist, has been awarded a Royal Warrant of Appointment by command of King Charles III.
This honour acknowledges the company’s work for the Royal Household and is one of the highest accolades given to organisations supported by the Monarch. It is the first time that the warrant has been awarded to an adventure play provider.
“Incredible recognition”
CAP.Co was founded by Simon Egan in 2013 and has become internationally renowned for bespoke adventure play.
Eight years ago, the company started its first Royal commission to design and build a playground for The Crown Estate’s Windsor Great Park. This was mainly constructed from hardwood which was harvested from fallen trees across the wider Windsor Estate. Named Adventure Play, the project was recently awarded a Thea Award by the Themed Entertainment Association.
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The company was subsequently awarded a commission to design a large-scale outdoor play space on the Great Field at Poundbury, King Charles’ new town in Dorset. Here, the main play structures were inspired by the beautiful local architecture.
This was followed by engagements at Nansleden in Cornwall, Sandringham in Norfolk, Dumfries House in Ayrshire, and Balmoral Castle in Aberdeen.
At Nansleden, a new suburb for Newquay, CAP.Co developed seven adventure play spaces for the Duchy of Cornwall. These were arranged throughout the community and designed to promote different kinds of play across the play master plan. In addition, each space features a local Cornish vernacular, playfully connecting to the wider context of the location and its heritage.
A phased installation of the Children’s Play Area was delivered at Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, which now welcomes 500,000 visitors a year. In 2021, the King personally opened a high-level adventure play area built among the Sequoia trees at Dumfries House in Ayrshire. This project is part of The King’s Foundation’s commitment to championing the benefits of nature-based play and learning.
This summer, a nature-based play trial has launched at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeen. The installation aligns with CAP.Co’s core approach, to design fantastical structures that are hand-crafted in high-quality materials for the long term.
Egan, who carries the warrant, says: “To receive a Royal Warrant is such an incredible recognition of our work, and we are extremely honoured. To be endorsed by the Royal Court and to be allowed to use their household crest is a great achievement. We are all delighted, rather humbled and emotional. It’s at times like these that you wish your parents were still alive.”
“A vital part of the brief on all the Royal commissions was the accessibility of our adventure play projects, and this is something our whole design and build team are experienced in delivering. For us, play is always more fun and meaningful if it’s accessible to all with no exclusions.
“We’ve come to learn that children rarely see disabilities in others, they just see someone who wants to play and be involved just like everyone else. It’s our passion to create places where everyone can play equally together.”
A significant factor for organisations in qualifying for the Royal Warrant is supporting and championing sustainability, something the King firmly believes in.
“We began the process of formalising our sustainability strategy as a team in April 2024 but had been operating sustainably for years,” says Egan. “We are committed to designing, building and maintaining sustainable, fun and safe – yet challenging – adventurous places that inspire the next generation to value and protect our planet. A big part of this is a commitment to leave the areas we work in, better than when we arrived.”
CAP.Co’s Royal Warrant is awarded for a period of five years. The company will continue to create its unique adventure play designs and builds from its headquarters in Scottow, north Norfolk.
Earlier this year, CAP.Co announced that it is developing a new adventure play park for the Thursford Collection, a unique attraction in Norfolk, UK which offers internationally renowned Christmas events, a museum for the world’s largest collection of steam engines and organs, and a leading event venue.
