The new 20-acre Aventura Park joins Capriola, Potenza and Solista parks to form an integrated park system for the master-planned community of Inspirada in Henderson, Nevada. Aventura Park offers residents three soccer/multiuse fields; two regulation little league fields; a dog park; two tennis courts; two basketball courts; four volleyball courts; heated resident pool; two picnic ramadas; a water play area and a playground. All the sport fields and courts are lighted for night play.






The Cosmo Base (Berliner Seilfabrik) is a round rope play structure with a framework of curved stainless steel tubes. The 12 powder-coated aluminum connection points of the climber are also the rope tensioning points.




Fabric shades (USA Shade) are essential for playgrounds in Henderson, Nev., where the average high in August is 100???(R)???AE? F. The playground lighting is low-profile LED luminaires.

In 2011, AndersonBaron https://andersonbaron.com of Chandler, Arizona, was commissioned to re-envision the 1,900-acre master plan of Inspirada in Henderson Nevada (pop. 270,811). With that came the opportunity to design three major municipal parks simultaneously.

Inspirada is a master planned development in Henderson involving four home builders (Beazer, KB, Pardee and Toll Brothers), with over 2,500 residents and 85-acres of parks. AndersonBaron took an innovative design approach for this unique opportunity, and wanted to create something different for each park, rather than just replicating the same playground design over and over. With such heavily programmed parks within such close proximity, AndersonBaron wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to give users a reason to visit each park for an individual experience. The result was three distinct playgrounds with individual themes, to provide unique experiences at each location.

At more than 20 acres, Aventura is the largest community of Henderson Park within the Inspirada development. In addition to the child play area, the park has three soccer/multiuse fields; two regulation little league fields; dog park; two tennis courts; two basketball courts; four volleyball courts; heated resident pool; a water play area, and two ramadas.

Exploration and Adventure
The playground features were themed around exploration and adventure. All play elements were chosen based on their emphasis on free play, which AndersonBaron defines as spontaneous, creative activity; experiences created based on what is provided in one's immediate environment. It's critical to the developmental and sensory needs of children and promotes imaginative thinking as a creative way of learning about the world. For example, a swing can become a rocket launcher, and boulders become protection from quick sand.

Landscape Structures' "Adventurescapes Design 6' is a jungle gym comprising two climbing boulders connected by a challenging twisted bridge of netting. Kids can access the netting attached at ground level and climb up to the top of the boulders.






The Vortex splash pad has an "Aquaflex' surfacing (Landscape Structures) that is also slip and chlorine resistant.

The exploration and adventure theme of the playground is brought to life through the different play structures, allowing children of all ages to climb to adventurous heights. Landscape Structures' "Adventurescapes Design 6' is a jungle gym of two large climbing boulders connected by a netted corkscrew twisted bridge. Kids can access the netting attached at ground level and climb up to the top of the boulders, as if scaling a mountain. Additionally, children may imagine they're climbing between two pirate ships using the netted corkscrew bridge. The Cosmo by Berlinger is a sphere-shaped structure allowing ample access for children to climb, while navigating through the inner web of ropes, or dangling on the rounded exterior support posts.

Children of all ages can climb high or low on the custom "mega tower" structure by Miracle Recreation Equipment. This three-tiered structure allows for endless climbing and exploratory activities. Users begin on the ground level and can choose to climb up the stairs, ladder, or take the scenic route overlooking the park on the ADA-accessible ramp to get to the second level. Once on the first platform, children can slide back down to the parks play surface or choose to climb even higher on the next ladder to the highest point of the park. Once there, they will be able to see for miles before going down the curved tunnel slide to get back to play surface.

With all of this climbing and running around, children can find respite from their activities and the sun under one of the tensile shade structures. Area temperatures during the summer are typically in the three digits. These vital shade structures are located above the Cosmo and Aventurescapes play elements, while the FlexGround resilient safety play surface rounds out the playground and splash pad.

To cool off on the hot southern Nevada summer days, a splash pad provides an area for families to cool down. But the splash pad at Aventura Park is more of a water-themed destination filled with fun and excitement. Multiple spray heads project water in every angle: sideways out of a seat wall, straight up in the air like a geyser, and curved in a sequence of archways. In the center, three large towers form a triangle shape with water cascading down like a tropical waterfall. FlexGround synthetic turf surrounds the splash pad; the surfacing for the splash pad is Aquaflex, both from Landscape Structures.

The custom Mega tower (Miracle Recreation Equipment) offers three climbing levels and a slide. From this angle we see the ADA ramp (right) and the chain ladder (center).




The sport fields are a Tifway 419 Bermuda turf, a high-density grass that grows best in full sun. It is commonly used on golf courses and sport fields because of its "quick recovery from wear."




A Hopskotch game is incorporated onto the poured-in-placed FlexGround (Landscape Structures) safety surfacing.

With such an emphasis on active play at Aventura, it is likely to host any number of sports tournaments throughout the year with visitors from all over the world. Due to this, we wanted to make sure the landscape was still a focal point and would offer a "green" environment all year long. Plant locations and species are strategically placed within the park to offer a variety of color and texture in the arid desert environment, even in the winter months.

As the park is located near the community's major collector road, safety precautions for the playground were of the utmost concern. With that in mind, the play area is centrally located within the park to allow parents to see their children on the playground from every vantage point. In addition, there is strategic landscaping and plantings to give separation between the playground, the larger ball fields and higher traffic areas.