Following the installation of an immersive events space at Sundown Adventureland, one of the UK’s leading family adventure parks, Clive Powell, the creative development director at Technically Creative, shares his unique insight with blooloop into the firm’s latest project.
Technically Creative, the immersive experience expert is based in Elvington near the English heritage city of York. It was founded by Marc Broadbent in 2019. With the addition of Powell, doors have opened to new opportunities and clients, leading to the company’s first project at Sundown Adventureland.
Powell began his career as a commercial illustrator, working on children’s books, advertising, and marketing. He then moved on to start designing interior design sets for high street brand Next Directory helping to create storyline landscapes for the retailer’s photography sections.
Industry connections
From here, Powell transitioned into the leisure sector, initially becoming a specialist in adventure play area design. “Getting involved in adventure play in its pioneering days was a very exciting time when the windows for development were wide open. From the outset, I was passionate about creating a themed environment that upscaled a playframe presence.
“Working with leading brands at the time such as Wacky Warehouse and Charlie Chalks Play Factories, I created many themed features that helped each brand and project realise its own unique identity and point of difference. I set up my own company and worked in that industry for 12 years designing all kinds of themed visitor attraction projects along the way .”
As the tourism trends changed, Powell took his broader expertise to destinations around the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe, the US and Japan. He worked with firms including Northern Leisure and Leisure House designing attraction solutions for clients including Vardon Attractions (now Merlin Entertainments), helping develop the company’s first acquisition under the Sea Life brand, and assisting with other projects through the estate.
Powell then became head of creative for Huddersfield-based KD Decoratives / Blachere Illuminations, Europe’s leading specialist in seasonal decorations.
“The factory was manufacturing all the Christmas props and lighting solutions was a facility to be advanced upon. I helped bring the leisure sector into the mix, so we started getting more involved with theming. That’s when we got involved with the likes of Paultons Park, Drayton Manor and Merlin Entertainments. Sundown Adventureland also became a key client.”
Powell at TC-IT
Powell now works for Technically Creative, an industry-leading design and manufacturing company that specialises in mixed media immersive attractions and themed installations, a skilled team of creatives and production designers in the North of England. Its clients, however, can be found around the world, ranging from attractions in the same county such as Eden Camp and Yorkshire Wildlife Park to the Moat Brae Museum in Scotland, Xplore in Greece, The Crystal Maze Experience in the Middle East, and the flagship Harry Potter store in New York City, US.
Powell is a creative designer and director, an accomplished visualiser who can easily design organically with pencil and paper, but also use digital tools to enhance projects with different perspectives. He is also a central point of contact for Technically Creative enquiries, meeting clients, assessing briefs, and then after working with the team, processing project options back.
“I help guide companies into different areas of potential with my job – it’s effectively a hybrid role. Educating the market about what Technically Creative does is important. It is quite an unusual company in that we do so much in-house.
“We combine traditional theming, shopfitting, prop build and more, encapsulating digital technologies including mixed media, projection, interactive features and immersive audio-visuals.”
In 2022, Technically Creative expanded further, welcoming Dig It and its associated brands into the fold, creating TC-IT Group.
No ordinary theme park
Sundown Adventureland is a themed adventure park near the English town of Retford in Nottinghamshire. Ideally placed near the major A1 route, the park caters for a key audience of children under 10. As such, groups of adults or single adults with no accompanying children cannot enter the park.
The result is a park which offers family-friendly and child-appropriate experiences in a unique and safe environment. Unlike some bigger parks, most of its rides are accessible to children under 90 cm, when accompanied by a responsible adult.
Sundown Adventureland’s outdoor play areas cater for children of all ages. By focusing on a specific target market, the park consistently delivers high satisfaction scores and can excel at what it does best. The award-winning visitor attraction is globally recognised. It was listed in Tripadvisor’s top 20 European Theme Parks of 2020 and named in its Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best Awards 2022.
Beginning of Sundown Adventureland
Sundown Adventureland has a fascinating history, with humble beginnings dating back to the sixties.
The story begins with Audrey Rhodes and her husband John. They founded the park from Sundown, a rural house with an extensive rear garden, from which the park got its name, in 1968.
Audrey looked after patches of homegrown vegetables, but it was a small holding of animals that started the story.
Her love of creatures great and small led to her accumulating a wide range, including a donkey from the Welsh seaside resort of Rhyl, goats, sheep, guinea pigs and other domesticated farm animals. There was also Coco, Audrey’s beloved monkey, who she bought from a pet shop in the sixties.
Residents soon became aware of Audrey’s personal menagerie in the countryside and they would have families and children appear uninvited at the doorstep, wanting to admire and pet the creatures.
Audrey’s charitable nature meant that she and John would take in donated animals and pets that people no longer could keep. With the increased costs of keeping the animals fed and looked after, the pair turned the visits into a new business opportunity, creating what became known as Sundown Pet’s Corner.
With 2000 visitors in its first year, the independent petting site soon turned into a minor tourist attraction in its own right. By 1972, sixty coachloads of schoolchildren had visited the home.
From house to destination
As crowds grew, so did the array of animals and attractions on offer, and the 2.5-acre garden became a 60-acre adventure park. Whilst animals have always been a part of the core offer, slowly the experience changed to offer a comprehensive range of play activities and rides for young audiences. Themes include the wild west, pirates and fairy tales.
In 1995, the UK government introduced stricter legislation on exotic animals, leading to the decision to rehome the animals. However, as a forward-thinking compromise, decided to integrate animatronic animals to enhance the offering.
Sundown also diversified to add other walkthrough attractions to its offering. This included Lollipoppet Castle, a huge sweet-themed fairy tale structure; Shotgun City, a western-inspired street; and a Storybook Village. All these features remain popular today.
Even though her husband John passed away in 2008, Audrey remained committed to the Sundown project. She insisted on being the first person on new rides and attractions when they opened. The jewel of the park, and reportedly Audrey’s pride and joy, was Sundown’s Night Before Christmas dark ride which the park installed in 2010 for £1 million. Riders glide past a range of festive animated scenes through a winter wonderland, in trackless sleigh-themed vehicles.
Audrey’s daughter Gaynor Corr says:
“It is still the most popular ride in the park, attracting crowds of people throughout November and December every year. Mum always made sure that she was around to test it – always the first person to ride the train to see Santa.”
Over the last decade, Sundown Adventureland has continued to invest in new rides. This includes a driving school, teacups and a jumping pig ride. Sundown Adventureland is also home to an Angry Birds Activity Park, licensed by Rovio. It was the first park in the UK to have branded play equipment inspired by the popular gaming franchise.
Sundown Adventureland – a family business
All these years later, Sundown – the house – still exists, an everlasting sign of how far Sundown Adventureland has come over the past five decades. Audrey sadly passed away in 2021 at the age of 92.
Audrey’s grandchildren Debs and Shaun Malvern, alongside Rhodes’ daughter who managed the park alongside Audrey for several years said:
“Sundown owes everything to this special lady who has been at its helm for 53 years. She never retired and was as dedicated in her 90s as she was in her 40s. Audrey was always present in the park, chatting with everyone she met. She worked relentlessly around the park until the end.
“Everything about Sundown is down to Audrey and her vision. She was devoted to creating fun for children, providing them with somewhere truly special to make wonderful memories with their families. We will ensure that her legacy continues.”
The park is one of the few sites left in the UK to be operated by a family rather than a large group.
Powell says: “They are such a nice family. I can’t emphasise enough how in all my working years I have never worked with anyone so lovely. They’re great fun, they’re honest, they’re very dedicated, and they live and breathe that park. I’ve got a very special relationship with them and they’re a pleasure to work with.”
Malvern adds:
“I think the reason why we are so unique is the amount of detail that we put into each project. We really are the best place to take young children for a day out.”
Resort transformation
The park has recently undergone a further transformation into a fully-fledged resort with its first accommodation offering for guests.
Wild Acre Village comprises three different family cabin types within an enchanted environment. Families can choose from cosy cabins, or upgrade to a bespoke lodge created for multiple generations of the same family to be able to enjoy holiday time together.
Residents can also enjoy a bistro restaurant serving breakfast and evening meals and a fully-licensed bar. Plus, there is a themed four-storey soft play area. Once completed, there will be 66 cabins on site.
Season’s greetings at Sundown Adventureland
With new accommodations in the plans, Sundown Adventureland wanted to upgrade a key park feature.
Attached to The Night Before Christmas ride show building, the park utilised a tent during the seven to eight weeks of the winter season as an extension of the experience. When families disembark, they queue to see Santa Claus in his grotto, before disembarking into the space.
“Over the last twenty-plus years we had always hired a marquee. In the earlier years, it was just an open-sided structure with a canopy and some gas heaters to give some heat whilst guests waited up to two and a half hours to visit Santa. He was very popular!”
The Night before Christmas is exclusively designed for the festive period and is closed for the rest of the year. However, even the short-term demands of the marquee were proving too much.
“Popularity resulted in us requiring an even larger marquee on the picnic field at 700 square meters! This had served us well. But with the rising costs of hiring a marquee, setting it up each year and then having to take it all apart again, it was getting too labour-intensive and costly.”
Utilising the relationship
Sundown Adventureland was seeking a larger, more permanent space that could cater for a range of events, not just Christmas. The solution, named the Four Seasons Arena, is now able to be a permanent attraction and facility in its own right. The project was led by Powell and overseen by Malvern.
“Technically Creative approached us a year before the project started its concept stage, introducing themselves and what they could offer,” says Malvern. “We already had a great relationship with Clive Powell. After a few conversations, we felt our goals were aligned with their own principles and passion for the industry.”
Alongside Christmas, Sundown Adventureland celebrates nationally recognised events such as Father’s Day, Mother’s Day and Halloween, as well as those for certain demographics including weekends for Services, Grandparents and Locals. By custom-designing the core event space, it could now be easily tailored for any of these.
By being able to reinvent and repurpose the space, Sundown Adventureland can easily incentivise return visits with new activities, or offer something extra special for its Fun Pass holders who can access the park as many times as they want in a twelve-month period.
“The time had come to build a permanent structure which resembled the same format as the marquee because if it “ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” This time it also had to be adaptable so that the space can be utilised all year round to cater for each season or event throughout the year.”
Being able to reinvent and repurpose the space gives Sundown Adventureland the opportunity to use it for other events too. The arena’s design also incorporates park mascots, Sunny and Honey. This adds to the duo’s impact in the park and creates a new area for prospective meet and greets.
Expansive project for Sundown Adventureland
Other key improvements included with the project were a new storage area, reliable heating and a catering area. TC-IT’s expertise was important:
“We also wanted plenty of theming to immerse the guests within the experience. It had to be bright and interesting for our young audience, and it had to tie in with the existing Night Before Christmas building.”
Sundown Adventureland also wanted to modify the location of the entrance to their popular dark ride. A new design would enable guests to enter without venturing into the unpredictable winter weather, improving the guest experience.
“We were very happy with the outcome of the project, says Malvern. “Working with Technically Creative was an enjoyable experience from start to finish. Feedback from our guests has been extremely positive and they really appreciate the more comfortable space.”
Tackling challenges
The project didn’t come without its challenges – such as how to deal with the unappealing aesthetics of a warehouse ceiling. Instead of using a dark cloth or flattening the ceiling, Technically Creative opted for a more innovative approach.
Powell says:
“We created a skyscape of huge fluffy feature clouds with fully programmed LEDs that can change colour to coordinate with the programme. There are thunder and lightning effects in there – the park can do anything, and that changes the ambience of the arena.”
The high feature takes away the industrial feel of the unit’s apex, ensuring that even the sightline of the eaves has been considered.
“We basically fixed a blank vacant space with the clouds which pull together the walls, theming and flooring. It just works because it’s suspended and what you see are these beautiful clouds, something that evolved through the concept design and our presentation of how we could make it an immersive experience.”
The new Four Seasons Arena opened in time for the 2022 festive season and is ready for 2023’s calendar of events. Families with children enjoyed the new addition in the lead-up to Christmas.
Malvern adds:
“Many comments have been made about the quality of the projection units in both the corridor exiting Santa’s Grotto and the large projection screen in the arena itself. Personally, I think the clouds are what make the space that little bit more special and unique.”
So what’s next for Sundown Adventureland?
Malvern says: “Following a positive recovery from the pandemic, progress on the Wild Acre Village holiday resort and the completion of the new Four Seasons Arena, we are ready for a short break – but we may still have a couple of ideas up our sleeve! We look forward to our next fruitful collaboration with Clive and the team at TC-IT.”
