Best Playground

Burke Playground Designers — Plamore Park

• Facility Name: Plamore Park
• City, State: Fond du Lac, Wis.
• Type of Facility: Park
• Architectural Firm: Designed by Burke Playground Designers
• Status: Complete
• % of reader vote: 34.62%

Plamore Park is a destination designed to create an equitable experience for everyone who visits.

With an inclusive playspace that fills an entire city block and features a custom-designed adaptive baseball field complete with accessible dugouts and even all-accessible family restrooms, people of all ages and abilities can come here for play, socialization, competition, development, and fun. A true community space, Plamore Park has a fully ramped structure where the ramps do more than just remove barriers — they are their own destinations complete with Sensory Rails everyone will enjoy. A tall Nucleus® Evolution® tower with multiple options for egress gives even the most active and adventurous children a place to foster excitement and awe while a plethora of spinning, swinging, music, games, ziplining, and overhead options offer play variety, equity, and a way for all people to create a play experience that is perfect for them.

Landscape Structures — Henslee Park

• Facility Name: Henslee Park
• City, State: Dickson, Tenn.
• Cost of Project: $2.9 million
• Type of Facility: Playground / Splash Pad
• Architectural Firm: Kimley-Horn
• Lead Architect Name: Alisha Eley
• Status: Complete
• Square Footage: 29,000 

Henslee Park is a destination recreation space designed to welcome individuals of all ages and abilities. The expansive playground features the Super Netplex® and net play structures for kids ages 5 to 12, while toddlers and preschoolers can enjoy the Weevos® playsystem. For a truly engaging and inclusive experience, the We-Go-Round®, Rhapsody® Outdoor Musical Instruments, Double Oodle Swing, multiple playground ziplines, and various hillside activities provide endless fun for all. Adjacent sits an Aquatix® splash pad, which offers a thrilling water play experience. There are splash play components like the FlashFlood, HydroHelix with Acrylic, AquaGather Station, SplashPack Elephant, and numerous ground sprays that keep all ages and abilities cool and engaged.

Visitors to this destination play space will find plenty of integrated SkyWays® shade throughout the play space as well as shaded seating for caregivers, a pavilion for gatherings, and ADA-compliant restrooms. With its focus on multigenerational play, inclusivity, and unique design, this playground is more than just a place to play—it’s a community gathering space that encourages friends and families to create lasting memories.

Landscape Structures — Park Circle Playground

• Facility Name: Park Circle Playground
• City, State: North Charleston, S.C.
• Cost of Project: $20 million
• Type of Facility: Playground
• Architectural Firm: HLA, Inc.
• Status: Complete
• Square Footage: 55,000 

Spanning an impressive 55,000 square feet, Park Circle Playground is the largest inclusive playground in the world, designed to be an “inclusive haven for people of all ages and abilities.” This one-of-a-kind play space promotes social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development through an extensive array of play activities. Park Circle Playground is filled with exciting components such as the Super Netplex®, Hedra® Tower, Quantis® net play structure, FitCore™ Extreme, and the Smart Play® Centre. The playground also includes numerous inclusive features like the We-Go-Swing®, Accessible ZipKrooz®, Rhapsody® Outdoor Musical Instruments, sensory tunnels, story trails, and swings—ensuring all children can engage and have fun. A standout feature is the two wheelchair charging stations, strategically located next to an inclusive, interactive game, allowing individuals to stay fully involved in the action without having to leave the play area. Plus, with nearly 85 percent of the play space shaded, visitors can enjoy a cooler, more comfortable experience, even under the South Carolina sun. Park Circle Playground is a place where everyone, regardless of ability, can connect, play, and thrive—setting a global standard for inclusive playground design.

Landscape Structures — Hope Playground at Whiteside Park

• Facility Name: Hope Playground at Whiteside Park
• City, State: Tulsa, Okla.
• Cost of Project: $1.2 million
• Type of Facility: Playground
• Status: Complete
• Square Footage: 14,400

Located in Whiteside Park, Hope Playground is Tulsa’s most inclusive play destination. Designed with accessibility at its core, this playground ensures that children of all abilities can enjoy every feature. The playground features a nature-inspired design with exciting, inclusive components like the Super Netplex® functionally linked to another sprawling ramped playstructure, both of which are packed full of climbing, sliding, and sensory play experiences for kids ages 5 to 12. Toddlers and preschoolers have a play space dedicated to their developmental needs, which includes hillside climbers and slides. In addition to these play areas, there are freestanding play components like the We-Go-Swing®, We-Saw™, Roller Table™, and Sway Fun® glider to ensure an inclusive experience for all. There’s even a fitness area for visitors ages 13 and up. The entire play space is covered with turf safety surfacing to provide a fully accessible route throughout the playground. Even the thoughtfully chosen color scheme accommodates children who are blind/low vision or who are colorblind, making it a welcoming space for all. Hope Playground is the largest of its kind in Oklahoma, funded by the Sanford and Irene Burnstein Family Foundation, which named it to inspire hope for future inclusive projects in Tulsa and beyond.

Landscape Structures — Warminster Community Park

• Facility Name: Warminster Community Park
• City, State: Warminster, Pa.
• Cost of Project: $349,000
• Type of Facility: Playground
• Architectural Firm: Gilmore Associates
• Lead Architect Name: Chris Green
• Status: Complete
• Square Footage: 9,750

Warminster Community Park’s new playground seamlessly blends the town’s historic charm with cutting-edge, inclusive play features, making it a welcoming space for children of all abilities. The expansive layout allows for more visitors to enjoy the playground, ensuring an environment that fosters connection and fun for everyone. At the heart of the playground is the exciting Hedra® playstructure, designed to challenge and engage children ages 5 to 12 with its accessible climbing opportunities. For younger kids, ages 2 to 5, there’s a dedicated play area, specifically designed to meet their developmental needs and abilities. Freestanding play components like the We-Go-Round®, We-Saw™, Cozy Dome®, and Double ZipKrooz® offer even more inclusive play experiences, ensuring that every child, regardless of ability, can participate in the fun. These innovative play pieces provide thrilling, cooperative play opportunities that encourage social interaction and exploration. The playground also features poured-in-place safety surfacing, creating a fully accessible pathway throughout the play space. This allows children of all abilities to navigate easily, connecting with friends and family as they explore and enjoy everything the playground has to offer.

ParknPool — Schneider Community Park

• Facility Name: Schneider Community Park
• City, State: Stuarts Draft, Va.
• Type of Facility: Community Park
• Status: Completed
• Cost of Project: Approximately $45,000

ParknPool worked with a manufacturing facility in the community that was kind enough to donate the funds to replace a playground located at Schneider Community Park. This project included a lot of prep work such as playground design and placement based on the area’s square footage and playground safety use zones, and disposal of an existing chain-link fence and older wooden climbing structure with removal and leveling of unsafe surfacing. Within a week of delivery, a new playground unit, swing bay, and recycled plastic site furnishings were installed by a ParknPool-approved certified playground installer.

UNITY™ Surfacing — Heckscher Park Playground

• Facility Name: Heckscher Park
• City and State: Huntington, LI, N.Y.
• Cost of Project: $1.5 Million
• Type of Facility: Public Park
• Architectural Firm: In-House Design Team
• Lead Architect/Engineer Name: Ed Parrish, eparrish@huntingtonny.gov, (631) 351-3151
• Park And Recreation Director: (Todd) Cable Jamison, cjamison@huntingtonny.gov, (631) 351-3089
• Status: Completed: Summer 2024
• Square Footage: 15,500
• Type of Surfacing Used: Unity’s 22” x 44” Skin Top tiles

Heckscher Park is a local park and national historic district in Huntington, Suffolk County, Long Island, N.Y. The 18-acre park is roughly triangular-shaped with a large pond on its northwest corner. It contains the Heckscher Museum of Art, established by industrialist August Heckscher, as well as the Chapin Rainbow Theater, and a newly designed 15,000-square-foot playground area for kids of all ages and abilities to enjoy. 

In late winter/early spring, the municipality broke ground, bringing to reality what once seemed like a dream for the Sheryl Steinberg Collins Foundation. It donated much of the money to make this dream come true, a new bright, beautiful, safe, ADA-compliant playground space for children of all abilities to enjoy. Orange was selected as the main theme by Mr. Steinberg in honor of his late wife and surviving daughter as it was their favorite color.

The existing playground area sits on a recessed, compacted stone base, allowing the play tiles to sit flush with the existing stamped concrete walkways. This flush reveal allows all the playground areas to be entirely ADA-compliant, thus allowing wheelchair access anywhere along the playground’s perimeters. Additionally, a newly designed Fabric/Mesh Sandwich System was installed between the compacted stone base and play tiles to provide plenty of drainage, while at the same time maintaining long-term stability in the sub base. This “sandwich system” has a plastic grid inside the fabric, providing very high compressive strengths and a multidirectional flow design for a continuous path of water discharge.

Unity’s rectangle play tiles were selected by the municipality to replace the ailing Pour-In-Place (PIP) that once surfaced the playground for several reasons. 1.) Officials favored the idea of using the “Step and Repeat” Method of Installations over traditional 2x2 tile systems that are on the market, to truly lock in the tiles by lining real seams up with fake seams. 2.) Tests have shown that Unity’s new “Skin-Top” tiles have outperformed traditional EPDM top tiles 2 to 1, Pigmented tiles 3 to 1, and PIP systems 4 to 1. The installation is a true testament to a playground that will get over 1,000 visitors every week.

Lynwood Recreation & Community Services Dept. — “Mega” Playground At Lynwood City Park

• Facility Name: The “Mega” Playground at Lynwood City Park
• City, State: Lynwood, Calif.
• Cost of Project: $9 million
• Type of Facility: Park Playground
• Architectural Firm: SWA Group - Los Angeles
• Lead Architect Name: Ying-yu Hung, SWA Managing Principal
• Additional Development Team: General Contractor – Brightview Landscape Services, Play Equipment – Kompan, Civil & Structural Eng. – Psomas
• Status: Under Construction (Estimated completion date: end of November 2024)
• Square Footage: 90,000 (Total project area consisting of Phase #1 and #2; Phase #1 is the Playground project and encompasses 1.1 acres of total area)

A vibrant transformation is underway in the heart of Lynwood, Calif. The city is expanding its recreational offerings and reaching for the stars with a vision that combines sustainability, play, and the wonder of space exploration. Mark Flores, the City of Lynwood’s Parks, Recreation, & Community Services Director, envisioned “Risky Play” and “Inclusive Play” features for the 1.1-acre, space exploration-themed park and playground design.

The playground project features 22-foot tall “Saturn Sphere” play equipment, a 30-foot tall “Rocket,” a California native shade garden, and an 86-foot long “Constellation Walk” around the trees. Every element is intentionally designed to spark interaction and socialization. The vibrant colors, dynamic shapes, and engaging structures will ignite wonder and collaboration among children of all ages. 

The playground's landscape design emphasizes climate resiliency and minimizes carbon emissions through the use of native plants, drought-tolerant species, and low-carbon materials. To combat the urban heat island effect and promote biodiversity, the playground incorporates native California Sycamore trees.

The idea and support for the playground came from years of civic leadership at the city council level securing funding and allocating staff resources, with thanks to Flores and his team’s leadership in championing new parks and recreational opportunities for young minds.

Berliner Seilfabrik Play Equipment Corporation – Pleasant Park

• Facility Name: Pleasant Park
• City, State: Apex, N.C.
• Cost of Project: $700,000
• Type of Facility: Recreation Park
• Architectural Firm: WithersRavenel
• Lead Architect Name: Kurt A. Pfeifer
• Status: Complete
• Square Footage: 4,800
• Number of Floors: 35 feet tall

Nestled in the scenic town of Apex, N.C., Pleasant Park is a 92-acre oasis offering a range of recreational features. This stunning facility includes multipurpose fields, sports courts, cross-country trails, and a vibrant food truck alley. Its crowning jewel is the 1.5-acre Enchanted Forest, a magical playground designed by WithersRavenel in partnership with Barrs Recreation. 

The Enchanted Forest boasts nine unique play areas, each themed with elements from fairy tales and fables. Visitors can explore villages with water play, nature play, sand play, and swing/spin areas, all inspired by stories like The Wizard of Oz. Kids can traverse Munchkin Land, follow the “yellow” brick road to the Emerald City, and climb the modified Triitopia.02 structure with green HDPE panels. The playground features accessible elements such as ADA ramps and offers a variety of play experiences, including a spatial net for climbing, a green tube slide, and a Fast Lane Slide for younger adventurers. 

Pleasant Park's design aims to integrate storytelling with play, providing an inclusive space where every visitor can engage in their own adventure. This enchanting playground is set to be a cherished community treasure for years to come.