COME FLY WITH US!

"We're delighted to have this amazing custom playground featured as the Berliner Project of the Month - read more about it and see how it was designed below!"

Dear Playground Enthusiasts,

In our monthly newsletter, “Project of the Month”, Berliner Creative Center showcases projects we feel are deserving of special mention. Criteria for inclusion might be a playground’s unique play value, special circumstances surrounding its construction, or perhaps its individuality, size or location. We hope you enjoy the article. Perhaps it might even inspire you in the creation of your own unique playground.

The great state of Utah is known for amazing national parks and majestic landscapes. From snowy mountain ranges to red rock formations, Utah is absolutely beautiful! Over the years, Riverton has become a major metropolitan area in Salt Lake County and includes the recent addition of Mountain View Village, a large mixed-use lifestyle center. The team behind the village, CenterCal Properties, wanted to create a dynamic gathering place in the southern Salt Lake Valley.

CenterCal founder and plane enthusiast, Fred Bruning, owns a 1942 Boeing Stearman Bi-plane and this playground is a replica of his exact plane. It’s a unique design with the

open cockpit, propeller, wing and tail designs, down to the same colors! The playground is dedicated to at all WWII Army Air Corps & Naval Aviators, known as the “Wings of Angels”. With the help of Senior Playground Designer Luke Vardanian and local Berliner distributor LuckyDog Recreation, Berliner was able to replicate this plane and contribute to this amazing project.

Luke has created many designs over his years with Berliner, especially custom themed pieces like this one. He's a fellow aviation lover as well and has designed several planes in his career, but this is the first one that he's been able to bring to life. Here's what he had to say about theming and designing custom play pieces: "So when designing anything themed, its always important to know first and foremost the main component we are dealing with is Rope, this is not always an easy challenge. Rope can be themed using our Posts & Tubes, along with HDPE Paneling which allows us to create just about anything the client desires. When it came to the Airplane, the wish was to mimic the client's real airplane. Attention to detail was key in creating a one-of-a-kind framework consisting of climbable wings, a cockpit and tail section. We matched the color of the plane using our ropes and RAL colors for the framework. It was also important to add features that added a sense of interactive elements, so we achieved this by adding a movable yoke and control panel which is one of a kind. The client also wanted to incorporate a Control Tower, which features a Wind Sock topper and a custom Stainless Steel slide, this is accessed by a maze of climbing ladders and platform nets.

"The plane itself has rope "wings" along with ladders and climbing disks between the upper and lower sections. In addition to the climbable features on the plane, the cockpit area has two flubber seats along with the custom controls and a small HDPE back wing on the tail. The custom crafted plane replica features our RAL colors Zinc Yellow, Gentian Blue, Traffic Black and Carmine Red with a bright HDPE 94 with white and black accents. The yellow and blue rope really make this play piece pop while staying true to the original. Another small detail about this project that really contributes to the theming is the surfacing that was designed to look like a airplane runway.

For the Custom Control Tower, we wanted to include another climbing element while sticking to the overall theme. This tower not only provides a different climbing

experience than the plane using the large spatial net, but it also a safe place for users to relax; and the impressive Stainless Steel Tube Slide adds a fun descent! By keeping the Tower Pure White with Red Rope and Carmine Red accents, it sticks to the primary colors of the overall theme while remaining an eye catching play piece.

Mountain View Villages is an incredible project dedicated to the "Wings of Angels". We would like to thank LuckyDog Recreation and CenterCal Properties for making us a part of this spectacular playground. This project will continue to impact the community for years to come!

Thank you for the honor of Project of the Month! If you are interested in any of this equipment please contact one of team members with your questions!