PLAY TAKES FLIGHT

Designed and installed in the City of Riga, the capital of Latvia, Proludic’s new bespoke playground is the perfect place to allow children's imaginations to take flight. This large, airport-themed playspace features creative, imaginative and interactive play equipment for children of all ages and abilities, and has been a real hit with the community. 

The playground is part of the large-scale Imantas Sports Centre project located next to the town’s secondary school. The Centre was built to encourage the local residents of Imanta to be more active, have fun and relax in their neighbourhood.

The Grand Opening of the new Imantas Sports Centre took place in July 2019.

The playground design includes Proludic’s inclusive and accessible giant Cargo Plane (J2690), customised in colours that are reminiscent of the country’s national carrier airBaltic.

Proludic has designed the ‘fuselage’ of the plane for young children and children with disabilities. Built-in facilities such as a wheelchair accessible ramp and wide platforms make it easy for all children to play.

Various educational play panels inspire the imagination, including an electronic play panel in the ‘cockpit’ that produces the sound of a plane taking off when a child turns the wheel. The front and rear wings feature play activities for older children aged 5-10 years. They include swings, a climbing ladder, slide, Speed Slide and two rotating Gyros.

A custom walkway connects the Plane to the Control Tower and forms a playful and challenging path. Play elements that cater to younger children include four different tunnels, climbing wall, ladder, slide and aviation-themed play panels. The custom Control Tower has a wide variety of design elements and play features that provide active and imaginative play on the airport theme.

Proludic has installed interactive play panels that produce light and sound, and aviation-themed play panels on the inside and outside of the Tower. The wide top platform with panoramic windows gives children a commanding view and a space over the ‘ground traffic’ action before they slide down the thrilling giant tube slide.

Light-generating windmills that resemble aviation light signals have been installed all around the top platform of the tower. A custom Roller Slide attached to the base of the tower provides a fun and sensory experience to younger children.

Other play equipment inspired by the airport and aviation themes includes a unique tube-slide, resembling a plane taking-off over the City of Riga. This feature incorporates a Speed Slide, a cloud-shaped curved ladder, and panels in the shape of a plane, cloud and city.

Children of all ages and abilities can enjoy the fun of ‘flying’. With rope games mounted on undulating cloud-like shapes, the three-dimensional play environment allows children to immerse themselves in imaginative play. They can climb, crawl and slide, giving them the sensations of playing in the sky.

An innovative Luggage Trolley track with three wagons linked together encourages friendly interaction between children. The playspace also includes the Twiny (J834), Looping (J3961) and Helico (J836) Springers.

Additional features of the Riga playground that appeal to both younger and older children are:

• Proludic Inclusive Trampolines (R34-ETP-500)
• The Inclusive and Accessible Carousel (J2409)
• The inclusive interactive Light-it-up Challenge® (J3451-R) with light and sound features and custom elements to match the airport theme
• The interactive electronic Game Infinity (J3450), a Cableway (J514), the Rodeoboard (J3501) and the Aeroskate (J2581-M)

The Riga playground is not just a playspace, but a genuine community attraction.

The Opening Ceremony was a great success, with hundreds of children and families enjoying the brand-new playground. The Principal of nearby Imantas Secondary School said, “students are now applying from other schools and even nearby municipalities. We expect the number of students to increase in the new school year thanks to the (Imantas Sports Centre) project.”

This is the third project of similar scale developed by Council to revitalise the City of Riga following the Riga Secondary School № 84 and Riga Humanitarian Secondary School projects.

All three projects have included playgrounds provided by Proludic.

To find out more and to contact Proludic for your next playspace project, click the links below.