This construction project took place at one of Herford’s most important, city-central squares. Following intense participation and involvement by local citizens, it was determined that a significant part of the newly-designed square would be occupied by a play ship. We submitted a successful tender for its provision. Following a further fine-tuning of our plans together with the Atelier Dreiseitl, the ship was realized in the Spring of 2008.
As the ship was planned with a divided bow and stern, both elements were prefabricated at our workshop and delivered to Herford. The circumstance that the ship’s connections occur along a so-called stainless steel basin, which had already been installed in-situ, required very precise planning and execution. The ship’s height similarly demanded exacting execution as rubber impact protection flooring was to be cast based on our construction.
Fashioning a very wide-hulled ship was necessary to compensate for missing impact protection safeguards on the ship’s stainless steel side and to keep the parapet at 1.3 meters above the play deck level.
Playing and climbing opportunities such as the suspension bridge and the lone mast with a crow’s nest, treasure chest and slide were specified in the competition guidelines. We choose oak for the base construction and larch wood for the curved planks at the ship’s bow and stern.