New usages for the surrounding spaces of the apartment house

The comfort of the suburbian spaces and the surroundings of the apartment houses have began to be considered more and more important. As the concept of the suburb evolved after the second world war, the aim was to house as much people as possible with the lowest cost as possible. These days many old suburbias, build in 50´s, 60´s and 70´s have seen a face lift, in which the surroundings have been made greener, the streets more attractive for walking and for cycling and the general outlook brighter and colorful instead of the grey of the concrete buildings and parking lots.


In our apartment house the renovation of the yard areas was carried out couple of years ago. Some obstacles were met due to surroundings which are protected for some extend by the town planning. The planting areas were renovated and new trees planted, while some old ones were cut down to have more sunlight at the yard. Most of the area was functioning previously as a parking place. While most of the parking places were preserved, as most of the inhabitants have a car and need it, room were made also for playground areas and relaxing spaces with benches and tables.


Old playground equipment were original ones, the house being built in early 80´s, so these had seen their better days already. The sand in the sandboxes were changed into fresh one, and the old equipment were replaced by modern swings and climbing towers. Replacing the old equipment was also a matter of safety – the old climbing towers had got quite a stress from the Finnish winter, and hardly anyone let their children to climb in them anymore.


The renovation of the yard of our apartment building was successful, making the surroundings more enjoyable. Neighbors started to spend more and more time outdoors ( in Finnish: ulkoliikuntapaikka ), especially in the summer. The playground serves as meeting point for residents and this way the renovation also enhanced the social connections between neighbors. The yard also won a local garden competition and got a honorable mention of its´ neat outlooks.

Norwell Form Function Brings Award-Winning Design to Outdoor Fitness Equipments

Public Health has become one of the western countries’ most debated issues and the various solutions have sprung up in municipal level. The undeniable fact remains that we all need to raise our level of fitness and enjoy the feel good factor that fitness brings.

One way for the cities to tackle the quest for fitness is to provide public outdoor gym equipment, free for anyone and everyone to use. The key criteria when deciding on the outdoor gym (in Finnish: ulkoliikuntapaikka) equipment are easy accessibility, ease of use and durability.

Norwell Form function is a new range of sculpted outdoor fitness equipment from Lappset. Designed so all people, despite their age, can enjoy it in the park, or at work, in the schoolyard for children with their teachers, or in the sports club.

The outdoor equipment consists of 12 individual outdoor fitness stations, shaped after a classic design feature of beautifully curved steel. Norwell Form Function equipment is based on a simple Scandinavian design, which gives the parks an architecturally designed equipment and visual beauty while it providing the basic functions it takes to train and maintain the body.

Designed by the acclaimed Danish design company, DOK 54, the Norwell Form Function's outdoor fitness line follows the Scandinavian design tradition. DOK54 was established by Jacob M. Lund and Thomas Brinch-Møller in 2001, after completing their studies at Design Seminariet in Højer, Denmark. Their work centers on product design, focusing on innovative products that are at once novel and functional. With their backgrounds as toolmaker and model maker respectively, they pursue a practical approach to design using their extensive knowledge of materials and production processes.

Their objective was to make the equipment appear as simple and functional as well as intuitive for the users. The main element - the curve - creates the wanted lightness and simple construction which makes the equipment unique in its design. The choice of material, the form and the overall simple appearance together promote the aesthetics, which is the characteristics of Scandinavian design.

To live a healthy and active lifestyle is more relevant in today's society than ever before. Norwell Form Function provides aesthetically pleasing yet durable and thus wise solution for many different environments and climates.

Outdoor fitness keeps the health up through old age

It is shown in research that exercise prevents the symptoms of the old age such as the weakening of the general ability to function in everyday life, the stiffening of joints and atrophy of the muscles. Doing outdoor exercise on a regular basis will keep also the mind active and prevents the weakening of cognitive abilities and depression. It is recommended to do exercise at least one hour per day, preferably outdoor fitness (in Finnish: ulkoliikunta). One study tells that staying inside even for one week will affect the general state of mind and vitality. Also, outdoor fitness prevents respiratory disorders and gives your lungs a good lungful of fresh air.

Good sports for elderly people are, for example, cross country skiing, swimming and Nordic walking, but even walking to the food store and carrying the bags back home is a good way of having a day’s dose of exercise. As it is shown, for keeping up the good health any outdoor fitness is good. It is studied that even regular walking will do the thing. Most important is that you do exercise regularly.

In the mid-2000s Lappset carried out a study on everyday life of children and elderly people. The project resulted in the Senior Sport Concept, in which the mission is to get people outside to play and exercise. The Senior Sport Concept equipment is designed to Improve the capacity of elderly people to cope in everyday life. Recent studies tell that muscle brawn can be increased in old age in the same manner as when younger. Equipment feature, for example, Panna Knockout arenas, game walls and multi-activity and sports equipment.

Senior Sport Concept products can be used by people of any age, and this way they offer a meeting point for different generations. Cross generation sports, playing and exercising will also mediate the practice for children, who this way can grow into keeping up their health through regular outdoor fitness.

Does play make you relaxed

The Finnish playground manufacturer Lappset promotes playgrounds for adults in their website (btw, playground in Finnish is leikkialue and children “lapset”). According to their websites, “the world of adults is all about performance, scoring, setting targets. Play can offer an alternative where adults can express themselves and relax.”

I disagree here – adults do play. We play football, floorball, soccer, hockey, golf and so on. The play of adults is usually s called “hobby”, and the meaning of all these hobbies is tha same as mentioned above: to relax and do something else than what we do in everyday life, which usually means work.

The element of scoring is present in these adult plays called hobbies. We want to beat another team, our competitor in game, or our own ranking. We do want to score, even if we say that it is “just a play”. When looking at inter-company games where not-so-fitty adults are running after any ball, stress-free is not the word that comes first in mind. I do not even know how well the players are able to express themselves, if we do not take into account that they are not wearing their everyday suit but shorts and t-shirts instead.

Roger Caillois was a French intellectual, who in his work discussed widely about the meaning of the play. In his book “Man, Play and Games” he defines the play by six core characteristics: Play is not obligatory and it is separate from the routine of life; the results of play cannot be pre-determined and so that the player's initiative is involved; it is unproductive; it is governed by rules that suspend ordinary laws and must be followed by players; and that it involves make-believe that confirms in players the existence of imagined realities that may be set against 'real life'.

There have been critiques towards Caillois similar than mine above: in the western society, everything is more or less subordinated to the social pressure and we do think what the right ways to use your time are. But Caillois’ definition does provide an interesting connection between play and the relaxation. In Caillois’s definition the idea of escapism is obviously present – and escapism is strongly connected with relaxation.

So maybe scoring is related to relaxation, after all, but not so straightforwardly than presented above. And in any case, the play does not start from game or playground – it starts from the attitude. We adults adore children’s ability to surrender oneself to game; we admire the way children can make up stories and play almost out of nowhere. This attitude is something to look for, whatever its presentation might be.

Playground in shopping centre

In a good old times some more advantageous shopping malls had children’s play room in some dark corner, where adults were able to drop their children while they were shopping. In modern malls the playground (in Finnish, leikkialue) is located in the middle, and surrounded with benches for adults to watch and rest.

One of these indoor playgrounds can be found from Örebo, Sweden. There the playground is truly located in the middle of the shopping mall. The entrance is made easy as there are no walls or entrance fee – anyone can come and join fun. In this busy environment, the simple forms and striking colors of playground equipments attract passersby eyes, and encourage them to participate.

In this case the playground environment is by Smartus concept, which is totally new way to approach the playgrounds. Smartus is digiplay concept created by Finnish playground manufacturer Lappset, which uses digital environment for deepening the play experience. This playground for the 21st century combines modern technology with playground equipment and turns play environments into a network. As any other playground, Smartus encourages users to exercise, play together and succeed together, but with the aim of the technology the players do not even need to be in the same space.

But it does not have to be the latest technological invention of the playgrounds to attract visitors! To have public playground in indoor area is a great idea at least in northern countries, where the weather can be nasty sometimes. It will not replace the good effects of being outdoors, but definitely physical exercise and play are better than just sitting indoors and watch television.

Shopping malls are ideal places for indoor playgrounds as the mall provides the basic functions already. In malls, there are already good air conditioning systems and public toilets; there are services like restaurants around; and people come to malls to spend their free time, so there are no need to seduce them to come over.

Malls providing the possibility to physical exercise have understood that providing free services like this do serve the public and individual good. Obvious is that they want to attract families to spend more time in their mall – but this way to spend time is probably much healthier than traditional hanging around.

Get teenagers out and play!

The old stereotype is about a teenager who sits inside and plays video games or watches TV, with his parents complaining “go out and play”. There might be a true reason behind this action, as the studies have shown that obesity in teen ages brings the same risks as heavy smoking.

Some playground manufacturers like Lappset have realized this need and designed their own playground equipments for teenagers (playground in Finnish leikkialue). Their series of playground equipments for teenagers include rougher looking climbing nets and frames, that are made from hot-dip galvanised thin-walled tubes and steel, and no bright color are used like in kids’ park.

This is actually following the first rule of teenager playground design. As being the teenager is rebelling against being a child, this has to be taken into account when designing playground areas for teens. The playground must set them apart from the younger ones in order to please this target group.

The nature of play changes also when growing to teenager years. Playgrounds for teenagers should focus more on exercise. As for younger children playing is learning, for these more adult ones playing is more physical and competitive by its nature.

The ideal playground offers the possibilities for sport and socializing, and it should nurture the need of adventure and physical challenge. The area offering wide choice of play different kind of games and do various exercises would be ideal: from football to basketball, climbing areas to just places to hang around and socialize. And the more plentiful the assortment of the games is, more likely there are more teens to gather there!

Play for teenagers is not anymore their work, as it is for younger ones. Play in teenager years is closely linked with the areas of social growth. Playing might provide the way to handle issues that cannot necessarily be put into words, and understand changes in the body through the physical exercises.

Teenager playgrounds are great way to direct the unchangeable energy to in more practical framework. Facilities like this can reduce anti-social behavior and help to prevent teenager crimes.

The importance of play

I never really thought of the reason for all the different playground equipments until now, when I have been spending a lot of time hanging in playgrounds (that is BTW in Finnish leikkialue).

Most of the equipments are still same as in my childhood: swings, carousels, springs, slides, and climbing frames. According to the manufacturers, they are made to develop children’s balance, muscles, spatial awareness and sense of rhythm.

According to the studies it is indeed so. Physical playing develops skills needed for surviving in modern world. These exercises develop the ability to reach and grasp, estimate measures and the power needed to crawl, run or climb. These skills even help them to develop the ability to write.

In his book “The importance of play: Moving and Learning for the Young Child” (1990) C. S. Rogers says that play supports the entire development of a child in all levels: physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally. So not only the physical part is present on play, but also other qualities what are needed for growing up.

As the saying goes, play is a child’s work. Through play, children learn how society works, about their environment and of their own skills. Along with physical exercise, playing gives children the lessons of teamwork skills and other social interaction - like co-operation, taking turns, play by the rules and lead the team - and provides sources for intellectual development. Play develops the creativity and language skills when interacting with others.

And to go even further: positive experiences while play creates positive emotions. That is good for child’s well-being. Play, which is closely connected with imagination, can help child to master their feeling and experiences, even the negative ones. I read somewhere that when children feel secure and safe while play, they acquire important components of positive emotional health.

Playing is not just for the human child while growing up. Other animals play too. So it is not something we, or our age, invented. Play is something built inside us, and it truly has an important meaning for our development.

Playgrounds for seniors

I recently became aware of an innovation from the Finnish playground manufacturer Lappset: the playgrounds (in Finnish, leikkialue) for senior citizens. First I was not sure should I was going to laugh or what, but then I decided to take it as a reflection of today’s culture.

Lets face the facts: the population of industrialized countries is getting older. The big generations born after the World Wars are just about at the age of retirement, and, due to different lifestyles, contraceptives and the independence of women, younger generations are not so large in numbers anymore. This makes the balance between old and young population totally different relation to what it has traditionally been: traditionally, children were the majority generation of the population, and elders the dying one, not figuratively speaking.

The way of life has changed drastically over the last few decades. Whereas more or less hundred years ago it was typical that three generations, from grandparents to toddlers, live under the same roof, nowadays the idea of nuclear family, parent or parents and children, is the main solution for living style. Grandparents are living in their own apartments, or when enough old, in retirement homes.

But is Lappset innovative in their thinking, or are they just reflecting the changing world? A hundred years ago, it might have been fun idea to have special playgrounds with special playground equipments for children even in industrialized countries. Children were, at least in some parts of the nation, considered as the source of labor. It was a challenge even getting them to school, and still special holidays had to be given for school children when they were needed for helping their parents with harvest duties. No playgrounds for them at those times.

Nowadays senior citizens are living older, and many of them are living alone. Is it really a stupid idea to provide them places to have some outdoor activities and meet others? Any outdoor activity is more stimulating than bingo; and this kind of specific area, maybe even with playground attendant, make safe place to do exercise. The senior citizen playground in the park of retirement home makes a great hang-around place for seniors living there, and with good city planning, this kind of playground could be the meeting place for children and elders alike.

The interactive playground

Although children tend to play the same games throughout the ages with minor updates, technology has allowed the playground (in Finnish: leikkialue) to take a quantum leap into the modern era much to the delight of the creative and active. An innovation just like this is SmartUs from Lappset, the Finnish developer of outdoor fitness (in Finnish: ulkoliikunta) equipment.

SmartUs is an internationally recognized playful learning and activity concept for today's children and families. Combining modern technology with play equipment, SmartUs offers a wide range of possibilities for playful activities and learning. The concept was developed by Lappset with the help of experts from the fitness, education, design and technology sectors.

The product line offers a wide range of opportunities for playful activities and learning by combining traditional playground equipment and modern technology, and by joining individual playgrounds to form networks. The network of SmartUs environments forms a foundation for new kinds of sporty games and tournaments, a range of different learning experiences and possibilities for online gaming.

New SmartUs outdoor gyms (in Finnish: ulkoliikuntapaikka) have been emerging all over Europe since 2006. SmartUs environments can already be found in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Spain, Portugal and Finland, for example. And the community is growing all the time.

Exercise is good for you!

One of the best remedies for boredom is exercise. Not only does it strengthen the body but it strengthens the mind also. Different types of outdoor fitness (in Finnish: ulkoliikunta) activities can bring diversity to your everyday life and bring also a change of scenery. Physical activities can help you balance your life, and you can always find the fight activity for your specific needs or mood.

Experts have for the longest time proclaimed the benefits of exercise which makes you feel better and betters your overall disposition with a mood boost that comes from being outside in the sunshine or even the rain. Many outdoor activities involve certain levels of weight lifting, which improves bone density by stimulating greater bone development. And many outdoor activities are also good ways to improve your sense of balance and spatial awareness.

Staying fit is a corner stone of a healthy life and can be a source of enjoyment also for adults. The exercise products developed by Lappset, a Finnish developer of outdoor gym (in Finnish: ulkoliikuntapaikka) environments, are designed with versatility in mind and can be used easily by both children and adults. By ensuring the possibility to use the equipment by all age groups, the products are used actively throughout the day.

Sporty products for all ages

Ready, steady, go! Swing around a pole, run over a swinging bridge, balance your way across a beam, move a hoop all the way to the other end of a pole, a speedy crunch towards the finishing line and goal! New records and new obstacle courses are born everyday while fitness levels develop along with agile competitions. A few adults show up at the outdoor gym (in Finnish: ulkoliikuntapaikka) at the end of the day to stretch some muscles and do a few pull-ups during their evening walks.

Staying fit is a corner stone of a healthy life and can be a source of enjoyment also for adults. The exercise products developed by Lappset, a Finnish developer of outdoor fitness (in Finnish: ulkoliikunta) environments, are designed with versatility in mind and can be used easily by both children and adults. By ensuring the possibility to use the equipment by all age groups, the products are used actively throughout the day. Additionally, by building an environment with products meant for different user groups, new acquaintances can be made with a common interest.

In the mid-2000s, Lappset studied the everyday lives of senior citizens and children in daycare. The project eventually generated ideas that grew into the Senior Sport concept. Inspired by the research and assisted by experts in the field, Lappset designed a series of fitness equipment specifically for the elderly.

The purpose of the Senior Sport outdoor fitness equipment is to enhance the daily lives of senior citizens through outdoor exercise. The playful exercises designed for the elderly improve their capacity to cope with everyday tasks. Senior fitness (in Finnish: senioriliikunta) is essential for good mobility ensuring that senior citizens hurt themselves less often, saving on medical costs.

Environmentally friendly outdoor fitness

Finland is known for its forests and woods, and commercial woods are carefully taken care of responsibly and with longevity in mind. Lappset, a Finnish developer of outdoor fitness (in Finnish: ulkoliikunta) and gym (in Finnish: ulkoliikuntapaikka) environments, also does its part in the welfare of the Finnish woods. The wood used in the Lappset products originates from forests that are maintained according to the sustainable environment principles of PECF, which is the world’s most comprehensive forest certification system administered and developed by the Finnish Forest Certification Council.

Already in 1998, Lappset took into use the international environmental standard, ISO 14001. According to the system, environmental issues are considered in all the different areas throughout the organization from the procuring of raw materials to the treatment of by-products and waste. For example, the paint used on the wooden parts of the products is water soluble fulfilling environmentally friendly requirements. Also, Lappset has dozens of subcontractors and it audits the main ones annually to ensure that environmental ethics are adhered to. During these audits, special attention is paid to the quality of used materials and deliveries, to the environmental friendliness of the production processes and to other critical business areas with the perspective of sustainability and environmental responsibility.