Case Study: Shaping sky-high visions into just-right solutions

Cloud-themed playground structure in Bicentennial Park

Client: The City of Hawthorne, From Lot to Spot and the Trust for Public Land

Designers: SWA and Jonah Scholen, Landscape Structures custom playground designer

Goal: Convert an unused concrete space into a community-designed green space including playgrounds for children and recreation activities for all ages

Hillside climbers and slide in Bicentennial Park

Solution: The City of Hawthorne collaborated with SWA, their local playground consultant, RecWest Outdoor Products, and Jonah to create an aviation-themed playground design. The PlayBooster® and Netplex® playstructures encourage kids ages 5 to 12 to climb higher and higher until they reach the clouds, while 2- to 5-year-olds explore the twin-prop plane-themed playstructure.

Twin-prop airplane-themed playground in Bicentennial Park

Get more details about how the playground at Bicentennial Park encourages kids of all ages to go sky-high.

Promoting literacy through inclusive playground designs

Thanks to the collaboration of some very hard-working organizations, there is a new inclusive playground ready to welcome children and families of all abilities. On Saturday, July 11, Shane’s Inspiration along with First 5 LA, the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, Too Small to Fail and the Exceptional Children’s Foundation hosted a grand opening to celebrate the new Landscape Structures inclusive playground at Sepulveda Recreation Center in Panorama City, Calif.

Sepulveda Recreation Center is home to the first playground with the Talking is Teaching campaign.

The playground offers a train theme with custom play structures that mimic a train depot and train cars, and all of the structures are designed to welcome children of varying abilities. Even more, this playground is the first in the country to highlight Too Small to Fail’s “Talking is Teaching: Talk, Read, Sing” campaign to boost children’s early language development. The playground at Sepulveda Recreation Center incorporated the Talking is Teaching materials into playground signage to prompt fun conversations, stories and songs while parents and children play together.

The playground design at Sepulveda Recreation Center welcomes children and families of all abilities.

We’re proud to collaborate with Shane’s Inspiration and Too Small to Fail to support families build a foundation of early literacy skills and help close the word gap.

Principals help create better school playgrounds in California

Elementary and middle school principals from across the country gathered on Monday, June 29, to participate in the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) seventh annual Community Service Day. The service projects included a school playground build at James A. Garfield Elementary School in Long Beach, Calif., and a beautification project at Charles W. Bursch Elementary School in Compton, Calif.

Principals worked together to build new school playground equipment.

We installed new elementary school playground equipment in Long Beach that will invite students ages 5 to 12 to spend time outdoors being active while also encouraging interaction among peers. The PlayBooster® playground structure delivers a variety of play components including climbers, playground slides, overhead events and sensory play panels. In addition to the playground build, a team of principals planted flowers and painted a mural to create a playful atmosphere at the Compton school playground.

Principals beautify school playgrounds in California.

Learn more about NAESP’s Annual Conference, and see how we’re working together to create more inclusive school playgrounds throughout the nation.