Seven Arrows Tree Weave
The Seven Arrows Tree Weave is a two-level, uniquely dynamic playground structure located in Pacific Palisades, California. The net was built for the prestigious Seven Arrows Elementary School. The school takes pride in not just their rigorous academic program, but also in their commitment to instilling their students with a great appreciation for both art and nature. It was this passion for the intersection of art and nature that led to the Seven Arrows School seeking our services. The school was looking for a playground structure that fuses together elements of both nature and art within their stunning grounds. Needless to say, the staff at Tree Weaves was more than happy to oblige.
As you walk into the outdoor grounds of the historic property the Seven Arrows Elementary School is located on, you are immediately struck with the majestic site of two redwood groves with thick, towering trees amongst olive trees, sycamores, and perfectly manicured landscaping. The grounds also have a gorgeous little chapel that is often used as a classroom.
Finding the right spot to build the type of dynamic playground structure the school was looking for proved to be a bit of a challenge in the beginning. We initially pitched using one of the redwood groves for the playground area as the height and thickness of redwoods are ideal for building large, multi-level tree nets. However, we were informed this was not possible because of the historic significance of the redwoods.
After exploring some of our other options on the property, we settled on installing the net above one of the beautiful mulched seating areas. This proved to be an intriguing challenge because of the distance between the trees used to form the perimeter of the playground structure and the need for the first floor platform of the structure to be tall enough for adults to walk under without hitting their heads. We were able to utilize a couple of olive trees and a large sycamore tree to suspend our net nicely above the mulched sitting area and adjoining walkway.
Entry Stairs
The staff at the Seven Arrows School wanted a playground structure that had some dynamic elements incorporated into the design. One of the dynamic features we had fun designing on this net was the hand-woven stairs that serve as the entry and exit point of the net. We constructed two sets of stairs side-by-side that lead up to a portal opening within the first level of the playground. The left side stairs lead to the more open and easier side of the net to enter or exit from while the right side stairs lead to a smaller entry portal for those who feel a bit more adventurous. Each step is constructed with 1” tubular webbing used to form the perimeters and 550 paracord woven in a voronoi pattern to provide the surface area for the steps.
First Floor
The first level of this playground structure is a single platform with a large surface area. The platform was mostly woven from underneath, allowing us to add extra tension to the net during the weaving process. This helps give the platform a very taught feel, making it easier to walk on and more bouncy for playing on. The large surface area of the first platform provides plenty of room for multiple kids to be playing on the net at the same time.
When looking at the first level platform from above, you can get a clear view at how we decided to separate the platform into different color and design sections using fuschia and caribbean paracord. Some sections are woven in solid fuschia or solid caribbean while other sections use a blend of the two colors to create a striking two-tone appearance. We thought this gave the floor of the first level a fun and unique feel.
Second Floor Crow’s Nest
The second level of this playground structure is a large crow’s nest high up in the limbs of the sycamore used to create this tree net. The large, thick limbs of this tree allowed us to create a crow’s nest that is slightly bigger than some of the other crow’s nests we have made in the past. This allows enough space for 3-5 kids to enjoy reading, relaxing, or socializing in the lofty heights of this beautiful tree.
To install the second level of this tree net, we used a fair amount of anchor bolts, spaced close together along the tree limbs the crow’s nest is contained in. This floor of the crow’s nest has a very taught and rigid feel, making it the ideal spot to kick back with a good book or for teachers to keep an eye on their students as they play on the first level of the tree net.
Double-Strand Weaving
Another feature that visitors to this net will notice is the double-strand method of weaving that is used throughout this playground structure. This has been a new method of weaving the team at Tree Weaves has started to implement in our tree nets and play structures.
Why use double-strand weaving instead of single-strand weaving? After using this method on the Community Pizza Weave, we found that the double-strand method of weaving provided two big advantages to our installations. First, the double-strand method provides a better, more comfortable feel when walking on the floor of any tree net, especially for those who enjoy walking around barefoot as we do. This is due to the wider surface area the double-strand method provides.
The second benefit is that it allows us to weave denser holes, faster. Denser floors allow both children and adults to walk all over our tree nets with ease and safety.
Hand-Woven Swing
Another incredible addon feature to the Seven Arrows Tree Weave visitors will see as they approach the playground area is a hand-woven, circular swing. The staff at Seven Arrows Elementary really wanted a fun addition to the tree net to enhance their kids playtime experience and truly make their active time unique and special. This resulted in us creating a stunning hand-woven swing for them.
The swing consists of a large metal ring to form the perimeter and hand-woven paracord to form the seating area of the swing. The paracord was woven in a dreamcatcher pattern using a multitude of colors, creating a visually striking swing to complement the aesthetic nature of the tree net itself. We also used paracord to coxcomb the metal perimeter of the swing. This technique not only looks great, but also softens the outside of the ring and adds a wonderful grip to the edge of the swing.
For future clients looking to add a swing to their Tree Weave, we encourage you to take a look at this swing as an example of just how beautiful and fun they can be. We have made similar swings on other tree nets in the past and believe they can make a great addition to any installation and who doesn’t love a good swing?
Staircase String Art Sculpture
In addition to the Playground structure we built for Seven Arrows Elementary School, Tree Weaves also built a beautiful string art sculpture designed around a staircase in the back of the school. The staff at the school asked us if we had any ideas on how to not only add some elements of safety to this concrete staircase, but also add some aesthetic value to the area as well.
Drawing inspiration from his experience creating the majestic Rainbow Whorls Stairwell Sculpture in Washington D.C., our very own Alex Patton designed and built the staircase string art sculpture at Seven Arrows Elementary. The sculpture adds an absolutely stunning visual effect to both sides of the staircase, utilizing the various colors of paracord that are used in the tree net itself. This sculpture also helps add some additional safety to the area by deterring kids from playing around the sharp edges of the concrete stairs.
The staff at Tree Weaves is always looking for opportunities to add creative, artistic elements to any project that we are working on. We encourage any clients who would like to add something like this gorgeous string art sculpture to their tree net installation to discuss these ideas with us during design meetings.
Other Addons and Features
Often our clients will ask us about adding extra features or addons to a tree net or play scape that we would not typically add. The staff at Seven Arrows Elementary really wanted to enhance the experience of playing on this tree weave for their students through addons to the net. The build team was able to create a couple of fun features to bring a little extra joy and dynamic play to the Seven Arrows Tree Weave.
We added a couple of knotted rope lines that were attached to a carabiner for kids to swing and climb on. These knotted rope lines can be detached and moved around to different areas of the net. You may also notice in the photos an adjustable slackline. The staff wanted a slackline as a way for students to be introduced to the sport and enhance their balance. We also added an ENO hammock to the net. This is not a product we manufacture ourselves, but we were happy to attach one to the net so that students and staff could kick back in a comfy hammock in the lofty heights of the Seven Arrows Tree Weave.
Color Schemes
First Floor
As mentioned previously, the color scheme used to create the floor of the first level of the net is a combination of Fuschia and Caribbean paracord, woven in a double strand method. The entire floor is divided into different sections, using the colors in alternating ways to create visually striking contrasts between the sections.
The walls of the first floor of the tree net were woven using three different shades of purple paracord:
Purple is one of our favorite colors to use in any Tree Weave installation and we are always happy when our clients want to add purple to their tree net. Seven Arrows wanted us to incorporate purple into this playground structure as it is one of the school’s colors.
Second Floor
The floor of the second level crow’s nest of the Seven Arrows Tree Weave is woven in a combination of Solar Orange and Caribbean paracord. We wanted to use a different color scheme with the second floor of the playground structure to help distinguish the two separate levels.
To weave the walls of the crow’s nest, as well as some higher up section pieces of the walls on the first floor, we used both Caribbean and Goldenrod. Again, we wanted to distinguish between the first and second level walls adding a more dynamic and colorful look to the net.
Staircase Sculpture
The staircase sculpture located next to the main playground structure uses a combination of all the different colors used in both levels and the walls of the tree weave. These colors include:
Share Your Experience With Us
For any visitors to the Seven Arrows Elementary School who get to climb onto the Tree Weave there, we would love to hear about your or your kid’s experience. Feel free to share your experience in the comments section below or share your photos with us using the hashtag #sevenarrowstreeweave.
Anyone wishing to see more photos and videos of this beautifully striking project, please checkout the Tree Weaves instagram page where you can find images of this and many other Tree Weaves throughout the country.