Tell us about how important Accessibility is to Dynamo?

Dynamo's founder had childhood experiences that showed him including play experiences for everyone is crucial. That memory has always driven Dynamo designs. We are well-known for the trend of multi-user to-fro swings, and Rotating Climbers. Those designs are all created to be universally accessible so that all users of all abilities can play together and are the games that our founder would have wanted to be able to bring his brother on as children. The industry has come a long way in 'accessible' offerings, but Dynamo still believes that a crucial guiding principle needs to be full and collective inclusion, which is a step beyond making space for a single user in a wheelchair, which does give the user some experience but still isolates them. We see success when groups of happy children of many abilities interact together on the equipment. Dynamo's goal is to help landscape architects provide that universal accessibility in the playground.

 
And how has that guided the development of your new Ovni Track Ride?

While looking at the growing number of zipline requests from landscape architects, we noticed that all such products are 'single user', and at the time there were no options for an accessible experience. With our proven Ovni swing system - multi-user, multi-directional, and universally accessible - it was easy to envision bringing those options to the zipline/ track ride market. The Ovni Track Rides structure is much more robust than a typical zipline using the same tested frame as our swing. So, putting together that universally accessible collective play with the exhilaration of flying down a track will really help landscape architects bring that new joy and increased play capacity to playgrounds!

But that isn't the only hot topic you are addressing with product development. Tell us what else is new at Dynamo?

Dynamo has also always been conscious of the environmental impacts of our industry and known for maximizing play value & capacity with minimal materials; however, we had not been able to bring a natural material product line to market. That was a common request from landscape architects, but our challenge was ensuring that the structural integrity of individual logs was reliable to meet the high usage in our playgrounds. Our new Nature's Aura???EUR??? product line has changed that by using glued laminated wooden beams. The glulam material gives us a dependable structural material with proven engineering data, while ensuring that the bulk of the material used is naturally sourced. This product line ticks several boxes for environmental concerns, and our designers have created some truly incredible structures. Landscape architects will be able to create projects that stand out from 'the usual' and leave a lasting impression on the communities where they work.

But Dynamo continues to be known for building unique, at times seemingly impossible play structures?

Absolutely! Dynamo has always looked outside the box for what we would create. With that as the base for our so-called usual play equipment, Dynamo is an ideal source for specialty and customized designs. We are usually approached by a landscape architect who has a vision, possibly a sketch, and we collaborate to turn that into a reality which is structurally sound and meets all of the necessary standards & safety criteria. We have seen many incredible projects come together, including: the world's tallest mast net; enclosed towers with tall tube slides; a musical fish climber; connected towers that look like kids' tree forts; climbers that are based on a splashing drop of water, sailing ships, twisted ribbons and so on.

Meeting the safety standards must be challenging when you are pushing the envelope like that?

Safety is key for Dynamo. It can be a challenge to evaluate our non-traditional designs, but with a culture of always innovating unique equipment, literally our entire history is full of careful evaluation of which criteria in the standards are applicable to each portion of a design, and when to go beyond the minimums. That is to say, we have a lot of experience in making unusual designs look incredibly exciting to the children but arranging the details to keep them safe too. Dynamo also has a long track record of participating in ASTM and other groups who develop the standards for the industry. Dynamo is also a long-time participant in the IPEMA program. Many standard products are IPEMA certified, but the IPEMA participant validation affects every project that Dynamo produces. Dynamo also contributes leadership in IPEMA, with the goal of improving the safety and quality of play for everyone.