Lynwood Mega Playground

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.

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.

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.