England: New 360 Play FEC for Farnborough Shopping Center

Farnborough’s Meads Shopping Center, owned by St. Modwen, will open a new 360 Play family entertainment center in addition to its existing retail and gastronomy offer at the end of this year, addressing families as a main target group. DP Leisure (DPL), developer and operator of the already existing 360 Play venues within the UK, will realize the project on a 1,858 square meter (20,000 square feet) large area, offering play fun for kids up to an age of twelve years. Its sister company, DP Associates (DPA), will carry out the design and master planning of the new facility.

360 Play in Farnborough will provide most of the brand’s popular attractions on three storeys, including family bumper cars and a carousel. The rides are being supplied by Italian manufacturer IE Park/SOLI Bumper Cars, which has supplied similar attractions to all the previously opened centers. A “creative play zone” will be made up of individual play units such as a fire station, a supermarket, a pizza parlour and many more. Also, some new elements will be exclusively created for this site. In contrast to the existing 360 Play centers, plans do not include a designated outdoor area but instead the play elements will be integrated into the indoor structure. Around 40 new full-time jobs will be created with this new leisure destination. Other 360 Play centers are located in Milton Keynes, Stevenage, Leicester, Basildon and Redditch. (eap)