customer case
Lynwood Mega Playground
Case Details
Location
United States
Customer
SWA Group, City of Lynwood
Sector
Age Group
2-5, 5-12
USER CAPACITY
250+
Standout Playground Area
When city officials in Lynwood, California, set out to build a new playground, their goal was to honour the area's Space Age heritage while updating the theme to reflect a more contemporary vision. Working closely with the City and landscape architecture firm, KOMPAN developed a state-of-the-art play solution featuring a 22-foot-wide Saturn Sphere with revolving rings, drawing visitors into its orbit.
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"How many rings can we actually afford to have? What's happening in the Sphere? What's the size of the Sphere? It's a lot of details that we couldn't figure out on our own."
Ying-yu Hung, PLA - Managing Principal, SWA Group
Every design element of the Saturn Sphere and its surrounding multistory rope net structure was crafted to evoke a sense of motion. Freestanding spinning equipment represents moons, meteors, satellites, and other celestial bodies orbiting Saturn, while the Sphere’s intricate netting encourages children to crawl, climb, and navigate through its rings—ascending, descending, and weaving through its spiraling levels and internal net tunnels.
Integrating a slide into the main structure was a priority, but preserving its planetary form was equally important. KOMPAN Design Studio’s designers and engineers solved this by developing an internal slide seamlessly built into the structure’s single-column support system. The use of Coromesh, a flexible diamond-shaped mesh unique to KOMPAN, allowed for the creation of Saturn’s three-dimensional, spiraling levels. To enhance the experience, landscape architects incorporated an "oculus" cap, opening up the skyward view and filling the play space with natural light. Handmade canvas panels provide internal shading, arranged in a pattern that mirrors the dynamic movement of the equipment.
"On the recreation side, we just have the vision and what's needed, but we don't know the details. And KOMPAN was an ideal partner in bringing that part of the vision together."
Mark Flores, Director of Recreation and Community Services, Lynwood, CA
Other space exploration-themed playground equipment at Lynwood Mega Playground includes a 30-foot-tall rocket-themed GIANT that pays homage to the site's original play structure from the 1960s. A 86-foot 'constellation walk' lets kids engage in rope play underneath a grove of native trees integral to the park's broader sustainability efforts. A 'Mars Rover' Toddler Playground gives 2- to-5-year-olds the opportunity to discover their own planet of age-appropriate thematic play.
PHYSICAL
Games area to help elevate fitness, muscle and bone strength, motor skills and cognitive function.
Cognitive
Joy of learning: curiosity, understanding of causal relationships and knowledge of the world
SOCIAL - EMOTIONAL
A safe space to help children nurture their social skills through teamwork and provide a sense of belonging. Decreasing a Child's stress and increasing their joy while on holiday.
Creative
Joy of creating: co-creation and experimenting with materialsProducts in this solution
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