LAKEWOOD, N.J. For decades, playground surfacing has been treated as a purely functional requirement, specified primarily to meet safety codes and installed with limited attention to design impact. RubberBond Solutions is redefining that role by offering playground surfacing as a creative medium for landscape architects, where safety, storytelling, and spatial design converge.

At the center of this shift is RubberBond Elements, a poured-in-place surfacing system designed to transform what was once a background material into one of the most expressive features of modern playground and public space design.

Rather than serving as a neutral ground plane, RubberBond Elements enables surfacing to become a central design element that is capable of shaping identity, reinforcing narrative themes, and elevating the overall user experience in parks, schools, resorts, and community spaces.

"Today's playgrounds are expected to do much more than provide a safe place to play," said Sheryl Berkley, a spokesperson for RubberBond Solutions. "They're community gathering spaces, educational environments and signature destinations. Surfacing should actively contribute to that experience (not disappear beneath it)."

From Flat Surfaces to Immersive Environments
RubberBond Elements is designed to support both artistic expression and functional durability, which enables landscape architects to create environments that feel sculpted rather than applied. Through its highly customizable poured-in-place system, designers can transform concepts into fully realized environments that support play, learning, and community identity.

Key capabilities include:
• Fully customizable design flexibility for themed environments, logos, and graphics
• Vibrant EPDM color systems engineered for long-term UV stability and retention
• Seamless integration with playground equipment for cohesive site design
• Durable system engineering for long-term performance and visual integrity

The result is a surfacing system that functions not only as safety infrastructure, but as a core design tool in contemporary landscape architecture.

Where Safety Surfacing Becomes Imaginative Art
RubberBond Elements redefines poured-in-place surfacing as a high-impact design platform for landscape architects. The system allows designers to move far beyond traditional limitations of safety surfacing and instead create environments that feel intentional, immersive, and visually cohesive.

Landscape architects can create:

 
• Smooth, continuous curves that follow natural landscape forms
• Fully customizable 2D and 3D graphics embedded directly into the surface
• Themed play environments and storytelling landscapes
• Integrated design features that coordinate with playground equipment and architecture
• Logos, branding, and visual identity elements
• Educational graphics, wayfinding systems, and interactive play zones

What was once a purely protective surface can now be a dynamic visual layer that enhances how children and communities experience space.

Engineered for Performance and Safety
While RubberBond Elements leads with design innovation, every installation is built on the company's high-performance safety foundation: RubberBond Elevate. RubberBond Elevate is a hybrid bi-layer poured-in-place system engineered for impact attenuation, durability, and consistent performance across the entire play surface.

Key safety and engineering features include:
• A 1.5-inch EPDM wear layer, significantly thicker than many traditional systems
• A 3.5-inch binder-free rubber mulch cushion layer for enhanced shock absorption
• A uniform 5-inch system depth for consistent protection across the installation
• Certified installation protocols designed to ensure long-term performance consistency

A key measure of surfacing safety is the Head Injury Criterion (HIC), which evaluates the risk of head injury from falls. Under ASTM F1292 standards, the maximum allowable HIC score is 1,000. RubberBond Elevate averages a HIC score of approximately 450, providing a substantially lower impact risk than the ASTM threshold.

Compared to many traditional poured-in-place systems (which often exceed HIC scores of 800), RubberBond Elevate is engineered to provide significantly improved impact attenuation and fall protection for critical fall heights of up to 14 feet, depending on site conditions and system specifications.

Elevate & Elements: A Dual Approach to Modern Playground Design
RubberBond Solutions offers a two-part system that bridges engineering performance and design innovation:
• RubberBond Elevate = Performance-focused safety surfacing engineered for impact attenuation, fall protection, and compliance
• RubberBond Elements = Performance + design innovation, transforming safety surfacing into a fully customizable visual and experiential landscape

Together, these systems allow landscape architects to design playgrounds that are not only safer and code-compliant, but also visually distinctive, narrative-driven, and community-defining.

Designing for Communities
As municipalities and institutions continue investing in parks, schools, inclusive playgrounds, and destination public spaces, demand is growing for materials that balance safety performance with design expression.

RubberBond Solutions supports projects for municipal parks, community playgrounds, school campuses, resorts and hospitality environments, recreation centers, mixed-use developments, early childhood education facilities, and commercial play environments
With a wide range of EPDM color options and full-surface customization capabilities, designers can create environments that reflect local identity, enhance wayfinding, and support imaginative play.

Sustainability Meets Performance
RubberBond Solutions is part of the Rubberecycle family of products that incorporates recycled rubber materials into its surfacing systems. This approach supports sustainable material reuse while delivering long-term durability and reduced maintenance requirements.

By combining recycled content with engineered longevity, RubberBond Solutions helps project teams achieve both environmental responsibility and lifecycle value without compromising visual or performance standards.

Supporting the Design Community
RubberBond Solutions works closely with landscape architects, playground designers, contractors, and municipalities throughout all stages of project development (from early concept design through installation and execution).

"Our mission is simple," Berkley says. "We want to remove the limitations that landscape designers and architects have traditionally faced with safety surfacing so they can create playgrounds that are safer, more memorable, and more inspiring."
For more information, visit https://rubberbondsolutions.com/

About RubberBond Solutions
RubberBond Solutions manufactures premium poured-in-place rubber surfacing systems for playgrounds and recreational environments. Its RubberBond Elevate safety foundation and RubberBond Elements design platform combine high-performance impact attenuation with advanced creative flexibility, enabling landscape architects, municipalities, schools, and contractors to build playground environments that are as visually distinctive as they are safe. As part of the Rubberecycle family of products, the company incorporates recycled rubber materials into durable surfacing systems designed for long-term performance, accessibility, and design integrity.

To see more products from RubberBond Solutions on LADetails, go to: https://landscapearchitect.com/ladetails/landscape-supplier/rubberbond-solutions