Nursery World - Change of scene

Banana trees and sandy beaches have created an oasis for families on a gritty estate, writes Judith Barrett The buildings of 1st Place Parents' and Children's Centre curve protectively around its gardens, which in turn look out on to a green swathe of parkland beyond. Banana palms shade the children's sandpit, which slopes like a real beach.

The buildings of 1st Place Parents' and Children's Centre curve protectively around its gardens, which in turn look out on to a green swathe of parkland beyond. Banana palms shade the children's sandpit, which slopes like a real beach.

It's a world away from the urban grit of the council estate whose occupants the centre has been built to serve - and that is just how they wanted it.

Urban environments don't come much harsher than Southwark's Aylesbury estate in south-east London. Built between 1967 and 1977, it consists of 2,700 flats in long, streamlined blocks which back on to Burgess Park. Some 2,000 to 5,000 houses were cleared to create the green space, planned as a 'mini Hyde Park for south London', but, underfunded and poorly maintained over many years, its reputation for violent crime has kept the parents and children of the estate away.

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