“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.”
- Charles Schaefer
WHAT WE DO
Our research investigates how the design of play environments impacts physical health and social behavior. Our approach to research is simple: we want to discover what sparks great play. Is it environment? Is it people? Is it programming? Is it time? To date, we have collected data on over 60,000 people in almost 100 play environments.
Our advocacy is tied to our belief that everyone deserves a great place to play. We lead lectures and workshops to teach designers, students, and allied professionals on best practices in play design. We also work closely with communities to support their unique play culture, through events, play memory workshops, and lively hands on art projects.
Our design focuses on creating immersive playful experiences unique to the needs of the community. Our play spaces offer opportunities for risk and adventure, full of imagination, movement, discovery, social cohesion, as well as deep connections to nature. Our designs are a reflection of what we learn from our research and advocacy projects.
We believe in creating play environments that balance safety and risk, in order to create places to play that are inviting for all ages.Our team is trained as Certified Playground Safety Inspectors and to execute risk benefit assessments. We have played on playgrounds around the world and are well versed in playground guidelines in a variety of countries.
With every project comes new design challenges and opportunities to create something innovative and unexpected. We use hand sketches, physical models, and renderings to study the design of each play space. We invite you to explore our diverse collection of process graphics and find inspiration to bring better play into your community.