Our unique approach to playground design combines visual arts and design to create physically challenging play equipment that goes beyond mere functionality to inspire imaginative play. We’re committed to artistic quality and inclusive play and firmly believe that these two elements can co-exist.

The artistic quality of a playground is a catalyst for children’s creativity and curiosity, stimulating the senses and developing a broad range of skills - both cognitive and physical.

Our artistic playgrounds become landmarks in their surroundings, causing both children and adults to talk about “meeting by the giant jellyfish.”

Why play on a climbing frame if you can play on a space rocket, a submarine, or a giant spider?
 

Playgrounds are social hubs in the community - gathering places. There are just as many adults as children at a playground and our creative playgrounds engage teen siblings, parents, and passers-by.

No invitation is required - playgrounds are open, accessible spaces for all - a public space for fun and where new friendships are made. We seek to create playgrounds that unite and gather people across generations and cultures - even if they’re not there to play but to simply enjoy the artistic sculptures.

A playground is a place for children to get active and moving. When they’re moving their bodies, assessing risk and learning to trust their judgment, they’re developing new skills and building resilience.

Designing playgrounds for movement of various kinds and levels of difficulty is integral to the design process at MONSTRUM. We design our playgrounds with many routes and flows of play in mind, taking into account the varying abilities and temperaments of the children who will play there.

With no single pre-defined way to play or navigate the playground, children of all ages and abilities are encouraged to dive in and explore for themselves - on their own terms.

SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS & PROCESSES

At the core of MONSTRUM’s sustainability policy is the production of long-lasting wooden playgrounds. Wood is a renewable natural resource and is warm to the touch. We endeavor to create playgrounds that can be enjoyed by future generations while taking care of the environment.

We value environmentally friendly and sustainable production methods throughout our supply chain.

All MONSTRUM playgrounds are produced at our workshop in Denmark, where we carefully select materials. Our team selects only high-quality, fit-for-purpose materials that meet relevant safety standards and take environmental factors into consideration.

Our playground equipment is made of sustainable timber, including FSC-certified Siberian Larch, PEFC-certified Duraply, and Robinia sourced from sustainable forestry operations in Europe. For large constructions, we also use galvanized and stainless steel.

We paint our playground equipment with water-based wood protection, known as ‘Flügger Wood Tex’. This paint is certified with the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, which ensures it contains fewer harmful substances and fewer substances with health effects than other paints.

BENEFITS OF WOOD

CHARITY PROJECT 2025

As part of our commitment to making a social impact, we have supported the national fundraiser Danmarks Indsamling for several years. Through this work, our CEO Ole, had the opportunity to travel to Uganda, where he witnessed firsthand the impact of our contributions – and, not least, the great need that still exists.

Visiting the refugee settlement Rhino Camp - roughly the size of the Danish island Langeland, with more than half its population being children - made a profound impact on Ole.

"I've never seen anything like it. I'm proud that we, as a company, can contribute to giving children safety, food, schooling, and the opportunity to play."

- Ole Barslund Nielsen

CHARITY PROJECT 2024

At the beginning of 2025, we once again supported the Danish National Fundraiser. Our donation helped enable CARE Denmark to climate-proof 28,000 kitchen gardens for families in Bangladesh. Among other things, the families receive a drip irrigation system that converts saltwater into freshwater, which can be used to water their crops.

The projects this year were targeted at the "silent disasters" that often escape the attention of the media and would broadly embrace children in need, including victims of war, persecution, famine and natural disasters.

A production team visited the MONSTRUM workshop to film a small feature with our CEO Ole - see it here.

CHARITY PROJECT 2023

In 2023, we built 5 tour buses and charging stations to donate to communities worldwide. We distributed the play structures in collaboration with charitable organisations such as Danish "SOS Børnebyerne" that work locally with some of the most vulnerable children in the world.

The small playground buses and charging stations are designed to be a fun getaway for children. It’s a place where they can let their imaginations run wild and embark on fun adventures with their friends.

The structures are designed to be easily manageable in places with limited resources - no structural foundation is required and the elements can be installed and maintained with ease by locals.

CHARITY PROJECT 2021

In Denmark, the annual national fundraising event, 'Danmarks Indsamling', is a televised appeal night, and the funds raised go towards various relevant causes. In 2021, the funds raised went towards helping children affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the COVID-19 crisis has affected many people across the world, it is catastrophic in the world's poorest nations.

The money donated contributes to ensuring that vulnerable children can access clean water, go to school, and receive the necessary protection and medical care. We, at MONSTRUM, wanted to be a part of this important work and donated a percentage of our annual profit to this good cause.

CHARITY PROJECT 2018-2019

Homelessness in Denmark is on the rise, and we wanted to address this issue not only through financial aid, but by creating a collaborative social space.

We invited four homeless individuals to our workshop where they - alongside our carpenters - designed and built their future homes in wood.

The four mobile homes - measuring only 3 x 6 meters - are ideal to place in passive city spaces due to their size and mobility. In this way, unused areas of the city can become flourishing, mobile local communities.

The project has been recognized with numerous awards, including the International Design Award with Gold and Bronze in the Architecture categories for "Mobile Homes" and "Conceptual Design", as well as the Aarhus Architecture Award 2018.

CHARITY PROJECT 2017

Ee collaborated with the organisations 'Plan Danmark' and 'African Direction' to support a development project in the slums of Lusaka in Zambia.

"In Lusaka, there is a need for safe havens and play spaces for children growing up in the slums. They require a space that is solely for them. The youth at Africa Directions Center will participate in workshops where they make democratic decisions on MONSTRUM's donations."

- Marie Hecht, Plan Danmark

The result was the construction of a netball court and the renovation of the surrounding walls. The center now serves over 500 children and young people aged between 4 and 25 years old, offering activities such as basketball, dance lessons, sewing classes, sexual education, contraception education, and business training. The center is the only safe haven for many of these children and young people, as the slums of Lusaka are not a safe place for them.

At MONSTRUM, we value experience, confidence, creativity, and responsibility, and strive to tackle challenges effectively - as a team.

Our people are our most valuable resource and we have built a strong community culture, which ensures smooth communication and collaboration between our design teams and our production teams. This culture is something we are very proud of.

We host five annual social gatherings for the MONSTRUM team - including a crayfish party in late summer and the traditional Danish "julefrokost" at the end of the year - where we take time to recognize and appreciate each other's and the company's accomplishments. These events are all about community and good old "hygge".

Good communication is an important factor in achieving the best design and end result. From the first inquiry, every project will be managed by one of our architects, ensuring that all ambitions for the project are met and accommodating the best process possible.

The following is taken into consideration at the outset of the project:

• What are the main ambitions?
• What story should be told at the playground?
• Is there a timeframe for the project?
• How do we ensure play value?
• Who is the playground for?
• What is the target age group?
• Are there any specific requests for play equipment, sizes, colors, etc.?
• How big is the area?
• What is the budget?

BRAINSTORMING
Brainstorming is the first step in developing a concept and theme for the playground. In this part of the process it is important to see possibilities instead of obstacles to ensure the best and most creative solution. The brainstorm will be based on the information, thoughts and ideas acquired from the customer. These ideas will be converted to sketches and finally, one concept is selected for further sketching.
 

CONCEPTUAL & VISUAL SKETCHING
The next step is to expand the selected concept and be more specific in the design. The visual appearance will be further developed and play features and routes will be added. In this phase, the design will be sketched in 3D. We deliver a presentation of the playground that will then be adapted in collaboration with the customer. 
 

DETAILING
Details will be adjusted and added. The safety of the design is examined and elements like colours, proportions and play value will be discussed and, if necessary, corrected in collaboration with the customer.

After approval of the design, the elements are made producible by our technical designers. This includes planning of the foundations.

At MONSTRUM, the whole process – from design to construction and final painting – is executed under one roof at our office and workshop in Copenhagen, Denmark. This simplifies communication, limits mistakes, and makes it easy to correct, modify or add details to the design during construction.

Production time varies depending on the scope of the project and production capacity with an estimated 4 months from the completion of technical drawings to shipping.

Before the playground leaves the workshop, it will be certified according to the appropriate safety standards EN 1176/77 or ASTM depending on the target market.

All playground elements are designed and built to fit the relevant means of transportation - either by truck, open flatbed, or shipping containers. Very large elements will be shipped in parts and reassembled on-site.

To ensure a smooth shipping process, we work with Blue Water Shipping – a global provider of all logistics services in modern supply chain management. Blue Water is an organization of professionals, skilled in providing complete and tailor-made solutions for any shipping requirement anywhere in the world.

We also offer supervision of the installation. Our team are hands-on in the process and will collaborate with local contractors. The preparations prior to and during installation will be planned and further details will be decided on in collaboration with the customer.

Our playgrounds are covered by a warranty of up to 15 years against defects in materials and workmanship.

Wood is a natural material that reacts to the changing seasons and weather. Small cracks, surface scratches, and color changes may therefore occur. This is a natural part of the material’s character and does not affect the structural integrity of the construction. These conditions are not covered by the warranty.

The warranty does not cover in cases where the product has not been maintained according to our maintenance manual. Defects or damage that result from improper use, storage, misuse or abuse, wear, tear or vandalism are excluded from coverage.

All our playground equipment meets the requirements specified in EN 1176/77 or ASTM (the European and American safety standards for playgrounds).

MONSTRUM have thorough knowledge of the regulations and the usual interpretations. To keep focus on safety from the initial ideas to the completed installed playground, several of our designers and builders are qualified Playground Inspectors.

To ensure a high level of safety, we collaborate with Nordic Playground Institute, who are Europe’s leading institute for playground safety and risk assessment. All playgrounds are certified according to EN1176 or ASTM before they leave MONSTRUM.

After installation of the playground, MONSTRUM will provide a maintenance manual based on the safety standards including security checkpoints, materials used and colour codes. The playgrounds are made of simple materials and are easy to maintain by local craftsmen. All wood used has a natural strength and resistance to weather effects and requires a minimum of maintenance. If the playground is re-painted after 10 years, it will look like new again.

All of our playgrounds have a warranty of 5 years, meaning defect parts due to manufacturing or material defects will be replaced or repaired free of charge within 5 years of delivery.

Wood is a natural material meaning that some cracks or splits due to weather and season changes must be expected and these do not affect the structural integrity. This condition will not be covered by the warranty.

The warranty does not cover in cases where the product has not been maintained according to our maintenance manual. Defects or damage that result from improper use, storage, misuse or abuse, wear, tear or vandalism are excluded from coverage.

All our playground equipment meets the requirements specified in EN 1176/77 or ASTM (the European and American safety standards for playgrounds).

MONSTRUM have thorough knowledge of the regulations and the usual interpretations. To keep focus on safety from the initial ideas to the completed installed playground, several of our designers and builders are qualified Playground Inspectors.

To ensure a high level of safety, we collaborate with Nordic Playground Institute, who are Europe’s leading institute for playground safety and risk assessment. All playgrounds are certified according to EN1176 or ASTM before they leave MONSTRUM.

After installation of the playground, MONSTRUM will provide a maintenance manual based on the safety standards including security checkpoints, materials used and colour codes. The playgrounds are made of simple materials and are easy to maintain by local craftsmen. All wood used has a natural strength and resistance to weather effects and requires a minimum of maintenance. If the playground is re-painted after 10 years, it will look like new again.