Our Story: How + why we build serious fun

Our Purpose:

  • Design and build inspiring custom playgrounds that stimulate children’s imaginations, offer physical challenge and beneficial risk, foster social interaction and creative play.

  • Design exceptional play value into playground sculptures and structures that provide ideal environments for healthy physical, social and cognitive development.

  • Create one-of-a-kind playscape destinations for cities and communities where children and families will gather time and again to play.

  • Handcraft durable and long-lasting bespoke playscapes using the highest quality materials.

Child playing on Earthscape playground at sunset

The Beginning

Sometimes things grow bigger than you ever would have imagined; in ways you never could have envisioned. As highly regarded landscape design-contractors, our early playground work began with a focus on natural playgrounds for local schools and child care centres.

Closeup of child's feet walking across rope on an Earthscape playground

The goal was to connect children and nature; to get them active and engaged in play in a unique way, and to offer an alternative to traditional post-and-deck manufactured playground equipment.

As we collaborated with new clients and Landscape Architects, natural playgrounds evolved into more epic, bespoke playscapes with towering structures and unique sculptures. We felt the craving for more interesting, aesthetically beautiful, and challenging playgrounds to create one-of-a-kind destinations for cities and communities.

Children playing on an Earthscape playground

Earthscape wood playground structures and sculptures have grown larger, taller, more technical, and more intricate to maximize play value. Now, Earthscape is a leader in the renaissance of custom playgrounds, incorporating natural materials, creative site-based design, and the highest quality construction.

In 2021, Earthscape Collections launched through dealer partners in Canada and the United States, offering even more communities the opportunity to access Earthscape's high-quality wood playground designs.

Our Approach

Inviting and engaging playgrounds encourage physical activity, imaginative play and social interaction. Thoughtfully designed playscapes entice children to climb, jump, swing, hang and balance. They are non-prescriptive and often without obvious routes or pathways so children can use their imaginations to play in new ways. Read more about our approach to design.

Earthscape Team photo January 2023 at THEMUSEUM

Who We Are

Earthscape is a collection of kids-at-heart who are dedicated to designing and building amazing playgrounds for serious fun around the world. We combine landscape architecture, industrial design, architecture, engineering, carpentry, and project management to bring brilliant playground concepts to life.

We collaborate with landscape architecture firms, municipalities, developers, museums, zoos, science centres, schools, and child care centres to create innovative wood playscapes.

In 2019, Earthscape began the process of transitioning to an employee-owned business through an Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP). Employee ownership reflects our culture of collaboration and commitment to customer service, sustainability, and growth.

Photo of the exterior of the Earthscape office

Our playgrounds are proudly Canadian-designed and fabricated in our studio and workshop in Wallenstein, Ontario where our experienced designers, engineers, craftspeople and installation experts work side by side.

From our workshop, fabricated equipment is shipped and installed internationally.

Visit our Project page to learn more.

We dream, design and build for serious fun!

Awards & Recognitions

Year
Award
Organization
Project
2024

2024 National Urban Design Award for Civic Design Projects

Awarded to DIALOG
Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA)
2023

2023 Merit Award – Residential Landscape Design

Awarded to Hollander Design
ASLA Illinois
2023

2023 National Award of Excellence for Small-scale public landscapes

Awarded to DIALOG
Canadian Society of Landscape Architects
2023

2023 Merit Award for Urban Design

Awarded to CMG Landscape Architecture
ASLA Northern California
2023

2022 Columbine Design Award: Best Park Renovation

Awarded to City of Fort Collins
Colorado Parks & Recreation Association
2023

2022 Urban Design Merit Award

Awarded to CMG
American Institute of Architects - California
2022

Award of Merit – Design over $500K

Awarded to City of Fort Collins
ASLA Colorado
2022

Global Award for Excellence

Awarded to City of St. Petersburg
Urban Land Institute (ULI -Global)