Interactive outdoor playground combines computing with climbing to win top design award

An interactive children's playground designed to include the attraction of electronic gaming to draw children outdoors has taken out the top prize in the 2011 Australian International Design Awards.

The Good Design Australia awards, presented in Melbourne on Friday (22nd July), recognised ICON's combination of computer games with classic climbing and play equipment.

ICON, an advanced playground encouraging health, movement, learning and social integration was designed by Danish company Kompan.

It was awarded the 2011 Design Award of the Year and took out the Best in Category design award in the Sport and Leisure category.

Described as the "future of playgrounds", ICON brings interactive gaming technology together with outdoor play equipment to provide an engaging, challenging and fun play area promoting a healthy, active lifestyle.

The equipment encourages children to move around the playground, climbing, running and jumping on the equipment in response to the interactive digital games that encourage competitiveness and gratification.

A clear winner in design and innovation, judges in the 2011 Australian International Design Awards were impressed by ICON's layout, attention to detail, design quality and longevity, in addition to the simple yet innovative concept of combining electronic gaming with outdoor play equipment.

The judges commented that "the combination of electronic games with physical play equipment was a stroke of genius. In an age where childhood obesity is an epidemic, this is where design thinking can make a real difference.

"With its low running costs, intuitive layout, impeccable quality and versatility, this will appeal to children and adults alike."

Brandon Gien, Managing Director of Good Design Australia said the digital playground was a standout product amongst the 127 finalists and category winners, stating that "to win the Design Award of the Year, a product needs to demonstrate outstanding design across our criteria of innovation, form, function, quality, safety and sustainability.

"Much more than colourful monkey bars and slippery slides, the ICON playground exceeds all the criteria and promotes an active lifestyle for our kids."

Gien added that the judges were impressed by the thorough attention to detail, including the well considered control panel, tamperproof stainless steel parts, injection moulded pieces, low voltage LED lighting, safety aspects and sustainability and longevity of the hardware which can be easily upgraded by incorporating new software.

ICON is available in Australia from Kompan subsidiary Kompan Playscape in Geebung, Queensland. It is currently installed in Robelle Domain, Springfield Lakes, Queensland, with orders in the pipeline throughout the country.

Presented by Good Design Australia, the Australian International Design Awards is Australia's foremost design endorsement scheme, rewarding companies that differentiate their products and services through design.

Design Awards were also presented to each highest scoring product in the eight categories of the Australian International Design Awards and the product best representing Design for Sustainability was awarded Design Award Sustainability.

For more information on the Design Awards go to www.designawards.com.au

To contact Kompan in Australia, click here to view the Kompan Australia entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory. 

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