Our history
Who we are
For over 50 years, we've been helping customers create healthier and happier communities
A round dot in a square world
When Tom Lindhardt witnessed how much children loved to engage with his art, the idea of making his art into play sculptures came to light. With co-founder Hans Mogens Fenne-Frederiksen,the business driving force, KOMPAN was founded in 1970.
In the 70s, there was a shift in lifestyle as many people were living in cities instead of the countryside. This urbanization forced architects to plan large and often anonymous public housing areas. Tom noticed that "the surroundings lacked color and texture". So he created round and colorful play elements that children could use to navigate the residential areas. This gave the area individuality and identity and gave children something to play on.
Half a century later, his legacy continues to provide children with a landmark to help them navigate through the first fun-filled years of life and, of course, something special to play on. It's a philosophy that is still very much part of our DNA.
Beautiful and timeless designs for children
Tom worked tirelessly to perfect his play designs. He wanted them to be striking and attractive in a timeless way. His first product was the Crazy Hen, which today - five decades later - is an iconic modern classic.
This philosophy of designing beautiful and timeless play features is still in our DNA.
Since then KOMPAN has invented and created:
the springer concept
the colourful playhouse
3-dimensional rope structures
360-degree play
the modern playground based on free play, including the Supernova
reinvented wood and nature play as well as thematic play based on play value
outdoor fitness with adjustable resistance
Creating beautiful sites that provide value for decades to come is at the heart of everything we do here at KOMPAN.
We are the global leader in outdoor play and fitness areas
We design, manufacture, and install more than 1,000 play and fitness sites every month. KOMPAN operates across 90 countries – 30 through our own direct operation and the remainder through carefully selected quality agents and partners. On average, we install a new site somewhere in the world every 44 minutes! Having family ownership of KOMPAN in a partnership with our top 60 managers enables us to make the best possible long-term decisions for our users, customers, partners, and employees in order to develop and support the communities we serve.
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Progressive play and fitness that encourages user development
Along with the urbanisation of the early 1970’s, an increasing number of women moved into the job market. This led to a boom in the amount of children starting daycare, putting pressure on providers to develop children's essential proficiencies – their physical, social, cognitive and creative skills. KOMPAN created a team of child experts - the KOMPAN Play Institute - to devise products that were not only fun, but also helped users develop key skills. The abstract themes of products such as Moments Story Makers foster the world of fantasy in the child’s mind, igniting role play and developing social skills. This philosophy is reflected in our name. KOMPAN comes from the Danish word for companion and lifelong friend. We believe that playgrounds should be the travelling partner of children throughout their development.
Similarly, KOMPAN has a Fitness Institute (KFI) that collaborates with universities to develop products that have a positive impact on the physical wellbeing of adult users. On a public level, a healthier community is more economically and environmentally sound. We've all heard the saying 'prevention is better than cure', and spending tax money on outdoor fitness facilities is a great way to reduce the line in the doctor’s waiting room.
