Our History

Craig Malouf, Playcraft’s founder, has always had a passion for building things out of timber. When he was young, he could be found in the backyard with his dad's hammer, a few nails and some bits of wood knocking up his own designs of hutches and pens for his extensive range of pets. He also helped his father, an accountant possessed with a passion for building, do renovations and extensions to the family home.

In the early 1980's, Craig embarked on an apprenticeship as a carpenter with a building company, where he also dabbled in a bit of metalwork. From there he went on to do metalwork with the CSIRO (it was here that he learned how to weld, so he could make his first slides). He was then employed by a small company that made basic children’s cubby houses and commercial playground equipment. When the owners of that company decided to cease operations due to financial difficulties, Craig decided it was time to capitalise on the opportunity he saw in the market to combine quality product with great service and a professional approach. 

At the age of 23, armed with a ute, a bankcard, some tools and a few mates, Craig founded Playcraft. His long term goal was to be the leading company in childrens' outdoor home play equipment, developing a range of high quality products and innovative designs, combined with outstanding customer service. For the first year, he really just wanted to pay the bills, learn about business and establish Playcraft in the marketplace. 

Craig combined his carpentry experience with a passion for design and outdoor living to create safe, durable and innovative outdoor play equipment. His ultimate goal was to motivate kids to exercise their imaginations and well as their bodies. From the outset, Playcraft followed the Australian Safety Standards for design and construction, ensuring that its products were suitable for chidren's safe play.  But did children actually want to play on them? Craig knew that the key to the success of his designs were the actual users. With this knowledge, he watched kids play, observed how they learned and employed this knowledge to refine, improve and innovate his designs. 

Playcraft also looked at designs from parents' perspective. Craig considered the importance of aesthetics and of ways to blend his designs into a wide variety of landscapes within the backyard. He understood the need to implement strength and durability in his designs, so as to ensure easy maintenance and long-lasting, durable equipment. Finally, Playcraft's products have always been designed and made in pre-assembled kits, so that customers can easily assemble and install products in their own time, allowing them the satisfaction of putting it up themselves.

Playcraft reflects the same family values that Craig himself has, and some of the people you encounter in the company are members of Craig’s family: Craig manages the Castle Hill head office and factory, and his wife Linda, manages the Castle Hill showroom. In addition, their two children have done their fair share of climbing, sliding and jumping in design-testing efforts.