We helped Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tenn., create a playground design to reflect their culture as an internationally diverse school. Hear from our custom playground designer, Jonah Scholen, about how he collaborated with the school to create the playground of their dreams. The end result? Students at Lausanne can run all over the world without ever touching the ground.
Client: Lausanne Collegiate School, Memphis, Tenn.
Designers: Jonah Scholen, Landscape Structures custom playground designer
Goal: Demonstrate the school’s global brand and represent the internationally diverse population—30 percent of students and/or parents represent 54 different countries
Solution: Lausanne collaborated with their local playground consultant, Recreational Concepts, and Jonah to create a world-themed design. The playground includes 14 different playstructures that represent a tour of the world on safety surfacing designed to mimic a world map. The playground includes the ZipKrooz™, which takes students from the Horn of Africa to Australia. Plus, climbable replicas of Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal provide opportunities for kids to interact, engage in imaginative play and discover the world beyond them while staying active.
Read more about how the playground at Lausanne Collegiate School has become a space to play and learn.
We’re so excited about the new Rhapsody™ Outdoor Musical Instruments! Not only because the chimes, metallophones and playground drums bring people of all ages and abilities together for jam sessions, but because our musical instruments are the perfect addition to any space.
Rhapsody Outdoor Musical Instruments are a great addition to any new or existing school playgrounds. The instruments can be placed together to encourage musical ensembles or spread about individually for solo performances. Best of all, these outdoor musical instruments for schools will deliver a unique way for students to express themselves.
Adding outdoor musical instruments to your park playground is another great option. Kids and their families will come together to create their own music or sound out familiar tunes together. And with the highest quality materials used to make the Rhapsody Outdoor Musical Instruments, your playground instruments will be great sounding, beautiful looking and long lasting.
Because outdoor music play is a multigenerational activity, the Rhapsody Outdoor Musical Instruments fit more environments than just parks and school playgrounds. The outdoor music instruments can be installed at community and senior centers, museums and many other public spaces. These inclusive play activities are sure to encourage individuals of all ages and abilities to explore the power of music.
Music is joy. A joy that can be heard and felt. And that’s why we’re so excited to introduce our newest playground innovation—Rhapsody™ Outdoor Musical Instruments! Rhapsody was developed with a highly skilled music advisor to ensure every instrument produces a best-in-class musical quality.
Our outdoor musical instruments invite kids and adults of all abilities to join the band, be creative and express themselves. There are six different instruments available within the Rhapsody collection:
Our playful and elegant music collection can be installed anywhere—playgrounds, community centers, schools, museums and other public spaces—to encourage individuals of all ages and abilities to explore the power of music. Learn more at playlsi.com.
BE BOLD. DARE TO CLIMB. DARE TO DREAM.
DARE TO CHALLENGE YOURSELF.
FIND THE COURAGE TO SEE THE WORLD FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE.
TO BE THE FIRST. TO MAKE YOUR MARK.
TO BRING OUT THE BEST IN OTHERS.
WHEN WE ASK KIDS TO THINK BIG, REMEMBER THAT THEY’RE ASKING THE SAME OF US.
DARE TO ANSWER THEIR CHALLENGE.
Whether you’re creating a playground that will become a destination for visitors near and far or a neighborhood or school playground, we have design solutions that will help your project stand out from the rest. Check out our infographic below to see how we can help you make your mark!
Learn more about our design solutions by visiting playlsi.com, and request your copy of the 2016 Playground Equipment catalog.
Earlier this year, we hosted the Legacy of Play Contest along with Kiwanis International to bring a playground to a deserving community. The winner of the contest was the Kiwanis of Ottawa, Ill., who received $25,000 in Landscape Structures playground equipment.
Phase I
Ottawa, Ill., is home to more than 18,500 people, and 13 percent of the community’s children live with a disability. However, Ottawa does not have a park that welcomes children of all abilities. In order to change that a group of volunteers founded PROJECT INCLUSIVE, and their first project was to build an inclusive playground in an existing city park. The goal of the project is to reimagine an area that fosters relationships, family and pride—allowing PROJECT INCLUSIVE to shine for all members of the community.
Phase II
Now, six months after the Legacy of Play Contest award was presented to the Kiwanis of Ottawa, Ill., the group is well on their way to making their dream a reality. PROJECT INCLUSIVE is developing the project in two phases—first, the freestanding play components and second, the inclusive playstructure. And if all goes as planned, the community of Ottawa will have the start of their inclusive playground by early next summer!
Client: Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston, Mass.
Designers: Cheri Ruane, landscape architect at Spurr, Weston & Sampson’s design studio
Goal: Design an exciting and interesting playground that would be truly inclusive so that kids who are typically developing and those with special needs could play together
Solution: Cheri and her team collaborated with physical and occupational therapists from nearby Spaulding Rehabilitation Center to learn and understand what kinds of therapy and activities should be supported in the park. The playground combines the Evos® playsystem with the PlayBooster® playstructure, landforms were used to create elevation so that space wasn’t taken up by really long lengths of ramps. And sensory-rich and therapy-specific components were included to meet the needs of all visitors.
Read more about how Thomas M. Menino Park brings fun and therapy to the Boston Waterfront.
Get inspiration for your next playground project with our 2016 PLAY Book! In the nearly 50-page book, you’ll see real-life projects from around the world. From a Wizard of Oz-themed play space to a playground that mimics the map of the world, nature-inspired playstructures and uniquely designed playgrounds set in one-of-a-kind environments, you’ll be inspired to create a playground design that fits your community.
Custom can do anything you want it to. When you pair up with our designers, artists, sculptors and engineers, you’ll discover how custom can take you from apples to oranges, grand overtures to singular accents, stupendous statements to subtle surprises. You can do custom.
Browse the 2016 PLAY Book or request a copy be mailed to you to learn how we’ll collaborate with you to create signature gathering spaces that your entire community will enjoy.
Client: Government of Durango and Integral Development of the Family (DIF), Durango, Mexico
Designers: Pat Tacheny, playground designer at Landscape Structures, and Christine Brey, custom playground designer at Landscape Structures
Goal: In addition to creating a recreation space for the community to socialize and be active, another goal of the park revitalization was to create an inclusive space to welcome individuals of all abilities. The inclusive playground design includes an extensive ramping system, activity panels and playground components to deliver various sensory experiences. Plus, a playground bridge was personalized to mimic the famous Baluarte Bridge. The real bridge connects the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Northern Mexico, while the playground bridge encourages kids of all abilities to connect with each other.
Visit playlsi.com to read more about how the Government of Durango and DIF designed a play environment to help create an inclusive society.
At the American Society of Landscape Architects Annual Meeting & Expo last weekend in Chicago, we ROCKED the exhibit hall! Our booth space featured The Canyon Collection™ and a customized Netplex™ in our new colors and the HealthBeat® Chest/Back Press and Elliptical stations.
Visitors to our booth were met with our nature-inspired climbers, which enticed many to test out their rock-climbing skills. All that play combined with Pop Rocks took attendees back to days from their youth. In addition to our booth, we were proud to sponsor the Opening General Session featuring creators of the PBS series, 10 Parks That Changed America. We also sponsored the Edible Landscape Celebration, which included healthy, locally sourced and heirloom foods, dancing and a Blues Brothers tribute!
Even more, we were excited to celebrate our President Pat Faust, who was presented with an Honorary Membership in ASLA. This honor is given to non-landscape architects for their commitment to the landscape architecture profession.
We had a great time in Chicago visiting with park and recreation professionals, hearing from industry experts and taking in all that the city has to offer. Our employees and playground consultants are already looking forward to the 2016 ASLA Annual Meeting in New Orleans!