Sectors
Location
Alnwick, United Kingdom
Client
Duchess of Northumberland
Architect
Ryder
Lilidorei, the world's largest play structure, is located near Alnwick Gardens. As the third major attraction added to the Gardens, it plays a key role in boosting tourism in the Northeast. The concept was created 12 years ago by The Duchess of Northumberland, offering an extraordinary experience for all visitors.
Embracing the historic landscape, we carefully considered the topography and developed a plan to allow the landscape to camouflage the structures into the surrounding area. We had to modify a long underground culvert while considering existing trees and root protection zones. As a team we overcame challenges, including over land flows, by developing and using overland flood modelling.
Carl Archer, Senior Civil Engineer, commented, “Lilidorei was a unique, challenging and rewarding project and it was great to see it being constructed after years of involvement. From civil engineering point of view, the project included public sewer diversions, culverting a watercourse, major earthworks analysis and challenging external levels design.”
This was a complex project with challenges due to the landscape, but we overcame these by adapting the structure to be more suited to the surroundings. It was exciting to work on a project with such a positive outcome for society, providing more local work and benefiting the school community by giving them a place to socialise.
