Swings that reflect the area’s history

    Who will get their first? Children see them in city playgrounds, at their nursery or school or as a wonderful surprise tied to the branch of a large tree in the forest. A swing can do many different things.

    Swings set the body and stories in motion 

    The swing is a much-loved play tool for many. The toddler learns to use their body to create movement and rhythm, and practices swinging high, high up in the sky. Swinging stimulates the vestibular sense - also called the sense of dizziness, which helps to provide good balance. Swings provide a playground or an outdoor space with extra play values and motor challenges for children.
    And when you get a good swinging motion going, you get butterflies in your tummy. The child experiences the free and floating feeling of being in the air like a daring circus performer, fast pilot or high-flying bird. Regardless of age, swinging is a joy. For younger children, swings are a challenging play tool that they must learn to put in motion and then create a rhythm in that motion. For older children, the swing set often becomes a place for socialising and hanging out. For adults and the elderly, a swing is a pure reminder of childhood play.

    In the design for an outdoor space, we also work with the swing as an active element in an overall narrative. Here, the swing can serve as a link to site-specific stories about landscape, bird life, people, cultural heritage and crafts. We often work with this in themed playgrounds and when designing parks and play areas that are based on the surroundings or which must convey a specific topic.

    There are many ways to design a swing. Check out our selection of swings under products. If you require a special swing, we can create a bespoke design for your needs.

    The very high swing at Plads de Labri brings you into a magical world of street performers, magic and circus art

    Inspiration: How to actively include a swing in the design concept

    Fiskelegepladsen

    In the design of the Fiskelegepladsen in Stavanger, the saddle swings and the bird’s nest swing bring to life the overall story of how the town was founded on decades of rich fishing and the inhabitants’ close links with the sea.

    On the swings you are 'riding the ocean waves' with fish swimming around your feet.

    The fishing playground portrays the city's history and is designed as an excursion site for both families with children and older generations. Here children play through the story, and the play equipment can serve as a conversation starter about, for example, when grandfather worked at the fish factory or went out fishing.


    Place the Labri

    At Plads de Labri in Odense, a high swing set has been placed in a play area that is shaped like a circus ring and which is centrally located just behind the sculpture of one of Denmark’s greatest street performers, Professor Labri.

    The high swing here is a ‘magic door' that leads you into the story of Labri's magical moments in the funfair tent, where he surprised his audiences with quirky magic tricks and market poetry.

    The square pays homage to the simple and close art - the circus and funfair tradition. This is an area with room for diversity through different words, pictures and quirky inventions.

    Hammarby Kaj

    A swing can also provide a sensuous experience of a transformed urban space, such as industrial areas or waterfronts that have been transformed into urban parks or activity spaces.

    In the project for the excursion destination 'Hammarby Kaj', the high swing is a combined light and play tool that provides active viewing points of the renovated harbour area. The arched shape of the swings is designed to mimic the arches in Skansbroen, which from its location further out in the harbour connects the district with Södermalm.

    Elverdal supplied the play equipment for Hammerby Kaj, designed by Nivå Landskap. Check out the Frederiksdalskajen project.

    Chr. Frederiks Plass

    In the project for Chr. Frederiks Plass in Oslo, we have used a large bird’s nest swing that actively links to the story of the Norwegian lowlands and bird life.

    The site is a tribute to Norwegian nature and portrays Norway's ambitious climate strategy. Chr. Frederiks Plass was completed in 2019 - the year in which Oslo was European Environmental Capital.

    The playground is divided into zones, each one representing one of Norway's great nature experiences: the mountains, the sea, the rivers, the settlements and the network of hiking trails. The city playground increases well-being and movement for young children and is an excursion destination for both locals and tourists.