Customising playgrounds with smart modularity system
Lappset pushes smart customisation by taking tailoring to the next level with the new Prime playground collection.
From modules to monuments
Creating large-scale, unique “showstoppers” is the dream of many a playground designer – but the process isn’t an easy one, not even for a modularity master such as Lappset. However, Lappset large customer-tailored products team has learned how to solve the demanding equation.
Combining novelty and modularity can be a challenge, says Tero Puotiniemi, Senior Concept Designer, at Lappset.
“When you’re building a one-of-a-kind product, modularity can be a hindrance, because it is, by nature, repetitive. When something is really customised to a high degree, you may want to avoid repetition.”
Nevertheless, when Lappset’s modularity know-how is used to “lay the foundation” of the novelty product in a thoughtful way, it can be a real game-changer.
“We are able to leverage modularity and build something individualistic from that,” Puotiniemi says, adding that the use of modular units solves also plenty of hassles involving safety and testing – since all Lappset modules are “fit for play”. While play is embedded, so to speak, in the modular solutions, this makes the playground experience so much richer from the start.
Signature look
Globally, the ultimate kind of customisation is referred to as bespoke, meaning, in essence, that the product is created from scratch to a specific customer’s unique needs and tastes, rather than being based on a pre-existing pattern or template. According to Puotiniemi, the bespoke market is steadily growing.
“Many customers are looking for something that is made just for them – they want to make a statement or build a landmark, even.”
Having started as a concept designer at Lappset in 2003, Puotiniemi has learned to navigate between the standard product and the unique creation. In large degree, the work is about carrying out an artistic vision within a certain framework – while being mindful of the costs.
“The sky is really the limit, since we can realise very imaginative and ambitious designs, but sometimes we have to think long and hard about the best way to proceed.”
Make it big!
Big playgrounds – packed with innovative features – are something that Lappset has enjoyed doing since the 1990s. Lappset started to really lean into theme park business during the 2010s, collaborating with, for example, Lego and Peter Rabbit. As a consequence, the company learned a lot about both indoor and outdoor theme parks and branded customer experience. Finally, Lappset really hit a new gear around 2018:
“We delivered a tiger structure to Ranua zoo in Finland and a lighthouse structure to France and truly kicked off a new phase in the design of large tailored products.”
Overall, the multi-talented customisation design team at Lappset comes up with a staggering 1,400 new product designs each year – ranging from minor alterations to standard products to bigger and more challenging innovations. All these designs are included in MyDesign service that Lappset provides for its clients.
Prime introduces a completely new colour palette, among other novelties.
Customising backed by volume
Ville Kemppainen, Play Product Manager for Lappset, is convinced that customised products are very much the way of the future for the Arctic Circle playground maker. The company manufactures mass customised products that are unique, with also bespoke deliveries available, and boost play value in remarkable ways. The new Prime playground collection is designed with this in mind, making unique playgrounds affordable for all.
“Customisation is a clear focus area for us, since the customer is very interested in leaving their own mark in the product. Customisation – based on Prime modularisation – is the perfect way to achieve just that. The Prime playground collection introduces new modules for roofs, walls, play panels, balconies, and of course activity elements, as well as a completely new colour palette” says Kemppainen, a self-professed “salesman designer” who joined the ranks of Lappset in 2014.
Tell your own story
Having travelled around the world for eight years catering to the needs of big theme parks, Kemppainen knows that the customer is looking to tell a story – and playground manufacturers need to be able to accommodate.
“The often-asked question is: we love the standard product, but can we change it up a bit?” Kemppainen says with a smile.
The answer – in case you haven’t guessed already – is ‘yes, we can’. And especially with Prime. According to Kemppainen, the customisation process normally runs very smoothly, since the standard product is a platform that allows the creation of great many things.
“Actually, our standard products are so versatile, that if you can’t satisfy your vision working from that, you’re being a little lazy,” he says.
“Sometimes you do have to work from scratch, but most design challenges can be solved using the existing product.”
No bridge too far
That’s not to say that there aren’t brave new frontiers for the designers to explore. Kemppainen recalls a case where a massive delivery to China included an impressive suspension bridge which ran into trouble in the testing phase.
“We tested it to the max at the lab and it collapsed. Then we went right back at it and made a suspension bridge that can withstand the weight of a car.”
The point of the story? – Now that bridge is included in the MyDesign portfolio, as a great example of Lappset pushing playground innovation well beyond the norm. The company is committed to delivering solutions that stand the test of time – without ever compromising safety.
“We learn something from overcoming each challenge – and the customer gets the full benefit of this, since the new designs become available for all.”
Solutions that stand the test of time, without ever compromising safety.
Nordic wood big hit in UK
Redlynch is one of Lappset’s distributors in the United Kingdom. The company has been Lappset’s representative in South England and Wales for seven years now, says Kim Crosse, Procurement Manager for Redlynch.
“My father Lee Crosse – who is the Managing Director of the company – first got to know Lappset when he was installing Lappset playgrounds, before he branched into distribution, too,” explains Kim Crosse. Redlynch was founded in 1997 and presently has 25 employees.
For the Crosse family, pursuing collaboration with Lappset is a sort of a no-brainer: the Finnish family company has a quality product and a reputation as an innovative forerunner. In addition, making playground equipment out of Nordic wood is something that really connects with the customers today.
“Using timber, like Lappset does, means that sustainability issues are pretty well covered. Timber also has that certain look: the product is very natural in appearance.”
Customisation resonates with clients
Then there’s the customisation angle. Crosse reports that about 70-80% of the business comes from tailor-made projects which utilise Lappset’s MyDesign service.
“With MyDesign, customers can adapt an existing product to their liking with small adjustments, or simply have something built from scratch,” Crosse explains.
“That makes Lappset unique in the eyes of the customers, and customisation – to one degree or another – is becoming more and more popular in the UK all the time.”
Crosse recognises that Lappset’s modularisation principles are the driving force behind even the most singular masterpieces. “It helps a lot, when you have the standard range that you can modify according to your tastes.”
New target groups emerging
Redlynch’s clientele is quite varied, ranging from cities and towns to theme parks. Perhaps surprisingly, schools are not big buyers of playgrounds, but ambitious real estate developers are.
“It used to be that when you build an apartment building, the playground is almost an afterthought, but now there’s a new emphasis on that.”
Recent hits include a superb tree house, built in a park in Wandsworth, South London, and a great castle constructed at the Folly Farm Adventure Park in Wales.
“If people pay for a ticket, they are expecting to experience something they’ve never seen before,” Crosse points out, admitting that the bar is frequently set quite high.
“Luckily, Lappset products have been popular everywhere.”