Playground
Freiham / Munich
Pozuelo de Alarcon
Madrid / Spain
Exciting climbing playground for young and old.
The widely visible pyramid towers and climbing structures in the Pozuelo de Alarcon park in the Spanish metropolis of Madrid invite young and old to climb and explore.
Those who have already exhausted themselves climbing the heights of the towers can use the various niches to hide in or the many seating areas to chat or rest. In addition, a spacious sand playground offers plenty of opportunities for younger children to immerse themselves in imaginative role play.
East Lake Park
Okoboji, Iowa / USA
Historic excursion boat for the adventurous
Located on the shores of East Okoboji Lake in northern Iowa, Richter's Minnie Queen pays tribute to the community's role as a historic tour boat. Adventurous visitors can climb up the smokestack ladder to get a glimpse of the water and ring the captain's bell. The wooden sailing boat, the slide in the shape of a large fish and the small fish seesaws offer plenty of opportunities for movement and role play.
Darling Quarter
Australia / Sydney
A designer playground whose play equipment blends in with the surroundings
Although Sydney's newest district, the Darling Quarter, is located in the middle of the city, it offers plenty of space for leisure activities and recreation. The aim of this urban development project was to create a family-friendly urban space for living and working. The integrated park has proved to be a key driver for the development of the Darling Quarter.It is also home to one of the city's most exciting playgrounds. Its spacious water area was created on a concrete surface with a design reminiscent of ice floes.
The water is pumped, for example with the user-friendly "water dispenser", which even the very youngest children can easily operate. The water flows through channels between the "ice floes" and can be dammed and diverted here and there. It can then be transported back up again using the Archimedean screw and scoop fountain.
IKEA Centre
Bayonne / France
The indoor playground based around the theme “up in the trees” invites children at IKEA in the French town of Bayonne to have fun climbing and exploring
The play structure, specially designed for the generous entrance area of the IKEA store in the French town of Bayonne, is a very special attraction.
The installation is based on the theme of “up in the trees” and composed of a total of eleven colourfully painted boxes, which are installed at different levels and fitted out with various window openings, net roofs and platform floors.
The access points are connected to one another by climbing nets, tunnels and ladder elements.
Special highlights are the skywalk, which consists of a net tunnel, and the 18-metre-long tunnel slide, which takes you back down from lofty heights.
Parc du Ray
Nizza / France
Climb and discover to your heart's content
In the northern district of Nice, the "Parc du Ray" project created a spacious green area as a recreational and play paradise. The project approach of the Compagnie du Paysage was to discover the qualities of the previously derelict site in order to create a project in symbiosis with its surroundings. Richter Spielgeräte has created an exciting and spacious playground in this park against the beautiful backdrop of the Côte d'Azur. Several platforms of different heights connected by climbing nets, ropes, bridges and net tunnels and a large, winding tunnel slide invite you to marvel, climb and discover.
San Antonio Children´s Museum
USA, Texas
San Antonio is a city in the US state of Texas and is located on the river of the same name. It is the county seat of Bexar County. The adventure playground for visitors to the Childrens Museum is located here.
Ellinikon Experience Park
Athen / Griechenland
Park has been delighting young and old visitors alike since opening
The seven-hectare Ellinikon Experience Park in Athens was officially opened in mid-December 2021 and has been delighting visitors of all ages ever since - with a water labyrinth, a forest playground, a Zen garden and an outdoor fitness area, among other things.
The spacious forest playground was realized by the German company Richter Spielgeräte in close cooperation with its Greek partners. To reflect the character of the derelict old airport site, Richter created a unique themed playground here in close collaboration with the Athens-based landscape architecture firm Doxiadis Plus. A large wooden airplane takes off from the runway, inviting visitors to climb and role-play. Younger children in particular can go on a journey in a smaller jet plane. The child explorers can whizz happily through the clouds, especially when someone is sitting or standing on the wings and providing a strong wind. The pilot sits in the cockpit and holds the course. You won't fall off, even in a heavy storm, because you can hold on tight everywhere.
The jet plane encourages lots of movement activities and role play. In the immediate vicinity of the old hangar is a 30-metre-long cable car, where older children and teenagers in particular can experience speed - the feeling of flying close to the ground - and reach the other end of the area with momentum. A climbing forest integrated into the old trees and a tall "tree" in the form of a lookout tower with stylized branches on a small hill and swings in different sizes for all age groups complete the play offer. In the water play area, younger children in particular can pump water, channel it into the sand and play with the elements to their heart's content. There is also seating in the shade. The old Ellinikon airport has been given a new lease of life!
Beauvoir National Cathedral Elementary School
USA, Washington DC
It's great when children voluntarily return to school at the weekend!
Beauvoir National Cathedral Elementary School is located on the grounds of the National Cathedral in Washington, an impressive neo-Gothic cathedral where Martin Luther King preached and American presidents are buried.The school is attended by children from nursery to primary school age. They come from wealthy families of the political class living in the area. With ample financial resources, the park-like outdoor area was completely redesigned.
AECOM was responsible for the landscape planning, while the play concept was developed by Richter Spielgeräte. The challenge here was the uneven terrain, which is characterized by steep slopes and terrain incisions. It was also necessary to make use of the old trees in such a way that, on the one hand, they would create an atmosphere, but on the other hand would not be damaged by the installation of earth masses and play equipment.
The aim of the play planning was to offer the sheltered upper-class children, with their very different age-related needs, graduated but ultimately great challenges. This allows them to use the free space every day for years without ever getting bored. A look through the school's webcam confirms that this has been successful:
In the pyramid tower, with its tunnel slide that disappears into the ground and reappears a terrace further down, the children experience height and speed as a pleasurable alternation of effort and reward after the climb.
They climb and balance on the climbing structure or simply hang out to watch a basketball match next door. For boys and girls alike, the three tree houses, whose connecting bridges snake between the trees at eye level with woodpeckers and squirrels, are a test of courage and a welcome hiding place. And at the weekend, fathers can give their offspring the final push on the zip wire. It goes without saying that there are also swings, towers with climbing walls and bridges, as well as little houses for the little ones to role-play in.
The school's educational concept is surprisingly bold, explicitly promoting personal responsibility and learning - even through the occasional bad experience. After a settling-in phase, pupils and teachers have learned to deal with the high level of challenge by American standards. The playground has become an excursion destination on school-free days when it is open to the public.
Ikuna Naturresort
Natternbach / Austria
Play world for young and old
A unique water playground was created in 2021 on the extensive grounds of the private property Ikuna - the name was adopted in reference to the former leisure park with an Indian playground - in close collaboration between the architect, the owner and Richter Spielgeräte. The aim was to integrate the water play equipment into the existing environment and to design the play world in such a way that as many children as possible could interact at the same time.
The playground is divided into different areas - watercourse, gravel works, sand and mud area, mill village and water forest - which are connected by an accessible circular path. The watercourse symbolizes nature as a whole, while the gravel works symbolize human intervention. This metaphor goes back to the client's desire to create a nature resort that is as free of electronics as possible and invites children and young people to play freely with the elements. The main connection between the watercourse and the gravel pit is an integrative sand play platform specially designed for wheelchair users. In the sand and mud area with its terraced A-squares, the Archimedean screw is the main attraction alongside the large nautilus snail, the scoop fountain and the large excavator. At 5.5 meters long, it is the longest screw Richter has ever constructed. In the mill village, the little ones get their money's worth and can immerse themselves in role play to their heart's content on the mill and paddle wheels as well as the various dam and weir elements. The water forest with its slender high palisades was also specially designed for this project. Thanks to a built-in automatic system, no pumping power is required to spray the water; instead, the water falls from above at predetermined intervals, as if from a fountain. In addition to inclusion, suitability for all age groups and the integration of existing trees and natural stones, an important aspect of the planning was also the possibility of providing parents or other accompanying persons with nice places to sit from where they can watch the children at play in peace and quiet.