Category Archives: Design

Designed to… Innovate and Strengthen at NRPA 2012

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Last week, we were in Anaheim, Calif., to participate in the 2012 National Recreation & Park Association (NRPA) Congress & Exposition. We exhibited with a beach-themed booth design, which featured the PlayBooster® Vibe™ and a 6-foot ocean wave sculpted from concrete.

NRPA beach-themed booth design

Visitors to our booth got a chance to meet some of our custom designers and artists, as well as participate in mock design sessions. Attendees were encourages to put their creativity to work to create a personalized t-shirt. See photos of inspiring t-shirts on Facebook, and tell us what you’re “designed to” do.

Designed to Play

On Wednesday, Oct. 17, we hosted a reception on the 5th Floor Lanai at the Hilton Hotel Anaheim. It was a gorgeous evening in a gorgeous space, and we welcomed more than 400 people to the event. In addition to cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and fun, we also celebrated the NRPA Award Winners including the recipient of the Barb King Award for Environmental Stewardship—the County of San Diego, Department of Parks and Recreation. The award was created for Barb King (1946-2008), who cofounded Landscape Structures with her husband, Steve King, to honor her passion for environmental stewardship and sustainability.

Hit the waves

We had a great three days in Anaheim visiting with park and recreation professionals, hearing from industry experts and taking in the nearby attractions. Our employees and playground consultants are already looking forward to 2013 NRPA in Houston, Texas!

Custom design creates destination playground

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Sibley Park, Mankato, Minn.

Sibley Park in Mankato, Minn., recently opened its new farmstead-themed playground. The playground is installed next to Sibley Farm, a petting zoo complete with alpacas, calves, goats, peacocks, horses, pigs, lambs, chicks and ducklings, and the playground structures match the red barn-style buildings of the zoo.

Our local playground consultant, Flagship Recreation, and our custom design team at Landscape Structures collaborated with the client to create a one-of-a-kind play area. Using a variety of materials, they created two barn-themed playstructures, a chicken coop structure, pig pen, tractor climber, corn stalk climbers, a wagon-themed seesaw and much more. What makes the playground come alive are the farm animals—chickens, coyotes, horses and pigs—sculpted from concrete and hand painted by our team of artists.

The new farmstead-themed playground has quickly become a destination play space for communities surrounding Mankato. Kids and families visit the playground regularly to explore and play. Check out the below video of the playground in action, then see if for yourself at 900 Mound Avenue in Mankato.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/MgKXiWm-XIg]

Designing beyond the boundaries at ASLA 2012

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Next weekend, we will be in Phoenix, Ariz., for the 2012 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Annual Meeting & Expo. More than 5,000 landscape architects are expected to descend on the city, and we’re excited to meet new landscape architects as well as reconnect with others.

ASLA Annual Meeting & Expo: Phoenix, Ariz.

We are exhibiting in booth 921, and invite attendees to stop by. Our custom design team, with experience that ranges from building large-scale parade floats to sculpting highly detailed items for the Smithsonian, will be on-site to talk about how we use design sessions to uncover customers’ needs in order to create a personalized playground design. Visitors can also put their artistic and design abilities to use to create their own personalized takeaway. Stop in and say hi; we’ll have coffee, chocolate and apples to celebrate the Green Apple Day of Service.

In addition to our exhibit space, we’re proud to support the landscape architecture profession by sponsoring the opening general session on Saturday morning. The session will feature Charles Fishman, an award-winning investigative journalist, who will speak about the history and future of water. He’ll also discuss his travels around the globe—from Las Vegas to New Delhi—to uncover how the world of water is changing and how it will affect society.

That same night, the ASLA/Landscape Structures Gala: Boots, Bandanas and Bolos will close-out the annual meeting. The event is at Corona Ranch and Rodeo Grounds, and is sure to be a great time. Our employees and playground consultants that are attending have their cowboy boots ready, and are looking forward to the Mariachi band, fajita buffet dinner, carnival games, and music and dancing.