Tag Archive for: playground shelters

The Earth Pod Has Landed!

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Earlier this year we developed a “pod” for the glamping market through the leisure brand of the Hideout House Company called Superglamp. These have therefore been sold to holiday parks, hotels, upmarket camping and glamping sites up and down the country who rent them out as accommodation units to paying guests and which have become increasingly popular over the past couple of years as the staycation and short break trend in the UK has taken off.

But these pods have also found another use in the educational market where they can be used as an outdoor learning facility, outdoor classroom, outdoor shelter, nurture room, forest school hideout and den and even as a parent waiting shelter!

A couple of these outdoor classroom pods have therefore recently been supplied to a school in Leicestershire who are using them for a whole host of reasons. The school – and of course the children – love the Hobbit style round circular entrance door and it is big enough inside to cater for a full class. Two large round windows also add to creating a fantasy atmosphere and allow natural light to flood in. The other advantage these pods have is that they are pre-manufactured units which are built in the factory and then delivered to a school on the back of a low loader truck. So causing minimal disruption to a school’s day as you can be up and running using the unit the very same day.

There are various options a school can choose from. Firstly there are two roof types, namely artificial grass or timber feather edging. Then if it was to be used all year round in all seasons, there is the option for an electricity connection which is provided via a low voltage mains unit (cable supplied).  Featuring 2 x double sockets, an electric panel heater, LED strip light and deck lights. We are also able to insulate the pod for thermal efficiency if you are choosing this option.

Secured with a traditional door lock to ensure security and provided with a delightful timber effect floor for easy cleaning and maintenance.

Loved by all ages, our “Earth Pod” is destined to make your school environment a special place to be.

For further information, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01865 858982 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

 

Outdoor Shelters and Eco Hub for Primary School

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eco classrooms

outdoor shelter with renewable energy equipment

We have just completed quite an interesting project for a school in South London where we have basically supplied them with an “eco hub” which is designed to be both an outdoor classroom or outdoor shelter but which is also an educational tool to help children learn about and appreciate the environment.

We started working on the project with the school last year and came up with the idea of having a small 3m octagonal shelter which say 15 children could sit in at any one given time. It was to be sited next to the school’s existing gardening and planting area so fitted in very well with the whole overall eco schools ethos of healthy living and renewable energy.

We were easily able to supply a building from our comprehensive range of outdoor shelters for schools as the school specifically wanted one which needed to be both “sideless and floorless”. We did however fit an upper panel to one side of the building as this was going to be used to host the board for the renewable energy system.

On the roof, we have fitted a solar panel (which is made from special materials to easily withstand errant footballs and potential vandalism) and a mini wind turbine which is mounted to the side on a pole. The siting of the outdoor shelter at the school is in a very good position because it is south facing (so plenty of sun and natural light for the solar panel) and is not shielded by any trees which would act as a wind block for the turbine. The energy created by these two items is then stored in a special battery which is mounted (but yet concealed) onto the main control board. This power is then in turn converted into usable electricity via an inverter whereby the children can plug in their laptops, tablets, mobiles etc into the two power sockets – and thereby appreciate 100% green energy powered by the elements!

We have also supplied the school with a special dynamo bike which is fitted into a back A frame holster. When the children pedal the bike, it creates energy via a dynamo system and this feeds into a special charging unit for mobile devices. As above, the children can then charge up their mobile devices through clean energy and good old fashioned pedal power.

Both these renewable energy systems are also actively involving the participation of the school children and therefore this way, they will appreciate how we can easily create clean and green energy which does not pollute the environment without having to burn fossil fuels. And of course, there is a bit of fun involved too.

The school has further plans for future developments along this eco theme including a music system which is powered by renewable energy. And a water butt and roof guttering system which will be retro-fitted to the outdoor shelter so that the harvested rain water can be used to water the planters and beds in the next door gardening facility – which at the moment is a problem as there is no water supply to this area and is beyond the reach of a hose.

The project was funded by Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant.

A short video of this installation and project can be seen on the eco classroom link.

For further information on our eco outdoor shelters, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01865 858982 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

www.hideouthouse.com

 

Which Outdoor Shelters Are Right For Your School

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outdoor shelters for schools

outdoor shelter in school playground

We are all aware of the dangers of harmful UV rays from the sun – especially on young skin – and it is for this primary reason which drives a lot of the sales for our outdoor shelters range of products we offer. Or schools want to be able to use them in all weathers and as this is Britain, we do get our fair share of rain as well so in this instance, think of them as a giant umbrella!

A school really needs to determine first what size they are wanting  – how many children is it for, is it actually going to be covering an existing item in the playground (such as a sandpit for example), is there a space limitation in the playground anyway? These are all determining factors that need to be taken into consideration.

And then of course, the million dollar budget question of how much money do you want to spend? As well as our company, there are of course a lot of organisations offering school outdoor shelters and it can be quite daunting for any teacher or school head to determine who or what is best. But there are three things you need to bear in mind in this instance and these are – quality, quality and quality. I have seen so many cheap shelters over the years and they simply don’t last or adequately do the job they are supposed to. A false economy in my book.

A school then needs to determine as to whether it is just a canopy shelter they are wanting or whether you want to extend out the application to almost have an outdoor classroom set up. And by this I mean benching around the sides, panels for whiteboards or chalkboards, desks and the ability to be able to totally or partially enclose them. You can do this with easy-to-use, roll-down canvas panels for example which also afford you greater protection from the elements when so required.

Within our range, we offer a whole hosts of roof options – namely cedar shingle tiles, felt shingle tiles, canvas and even living sedum. And we have products which are designed for a specific purpose – for example our nature watch hut which allows children to be close and to witness nature at close quarters. Or the living wall tipi where you can grown planters up the side.

For further information, please contact us on 01865 858982 or email: info@hideouthouse.com

www.hideouthouse.com