Lego and Nike add modular sports playground to Shanghai primary school

Design studio OLA Shanghai has collaborated with toy brand Lego and sports brand Nike to create a colourful modular playground at a primary school in Shanghai, China.

Created as the latest collaboration between the two brands, the brightly coloured playground designed by OLA Shanghai was installed in a previously grey courtyard space at Baoshan No 2 Central Primary School in north Shanghai.

The 550-square-meter space was covered in bright flooring made from recycled shoes that were processed with Nike Grind technology, which has been used to turn 280,000 worn shoes into flooring.

In a similar style to Nike‘s basketball courts, the playground features various gradients of red, orange and yellow. These brightly coloured areas were divided by white line-markings that recall athletic tracks.

The space is largely clear with the exception of an orange set of monkey bars and a small mound with several rounded, fence-like structures.

To activate the playground, Lego and Nike created a series of lightweight, blue blocks that were informed by Legos iconic bricks.

These blocks, which can be stored in cabinets around the edge of the playground, were designed to allow the children to play creatively.

“The playground’s overall structure brings together layered interaction with a focus on safety and sustainability, meeting the physical activity needs and safety standards of primary school students of all ages,” said Nike.

“Designers carefully balanced sport functionality with free play, creating a space that meets professional standards while offering rich interactive experiences,” it continued.

“Recycled materials form the foundation of the play areas, while vertical layering and blurred boundaries maximise experiential variety within the space constraints.”

Completing the playground are a series of red Lego block-like seating with yellow studs set against the glazing of the surrounding building.

The playground is the 50th made by Nike, which aims to build 100 Nike Grind courts across China by 2030.

Nike’s chief design officer Martin Lotti recently told Dezeen that using recycled materials is a better route to reducing the environmental impact of its products than designing for disassembly.

The photography is courtesy of Nike.

Read more

• Design
• Highlights