ICONIC WIN AT THE AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARDS

KOMPAN's interactive children’s playground ‘ICON’ scooped the top accolade at the 2011 Australian International Design Awards

KOMPAN's interactive children’s playground designed to entice young electronic gaming fans outdoors was awarded the auspicious 2011 Design Award™ of the Year - the top award at the 2011 Australian International Design Awards on Friday 22 July in Melbourne. ICON also won Kompan the Best in Category Design award in the Sport and Leisure Category.

Presented by Good Design Australia, the Australian International Design Awards is Australia's foremost design endorsement scheme.
Awarding the design with the top honour was the easiest decision the judges made, said Brandon Gien, chairman of the Australian International Design Awards. "It not only ticks every single box from a design and excellence perspective but this is an example of where design thinking is really going to make a positive impact on society.”

Described as the "future of playgrounds", ICON brings interactive gaming technology together with outdoor play equipment to provide an engaging, challenging and fun play area promoting a healthy, active lifestyle. Children are encouraged to move around the playground, climbing, running and jumping on the equipment in response to the interactive digital games that encourage competitiveness and gratification.

ICON breaks entirely new ground according Christian Schwerdtfeger the Marketing Development Manager for Kompan.
Christian said "It's going to be the future of play.You've got the beauty of outdoor play - in which kids can run around and interact and be motivated to move - and also have the digital world. We're encouraging kids to get out more, move faster and become more intelligent, increasing their gaming capabilities, but also getting out and tackling obesity as well”.

A clear winner in design and innovation, judges were impressed by ICON's layout, attention to detail, design quality and longevity, in addition to the simple yet innovative concept of combining electronic gaming with outdoor play equipment. "The combination of electronic games with physical play equipment was a stroke of genius. In an age where childhood obesity is an epidemic, this is where design thinking can make a real difference," the judges commented.

"With its low running costs, intuitive layout, impeccable quality and versatility, this will appeal to children and adults alike."Brandon Gien, Managing Director of Good Design Australia said the digital playground was a standout product amongst the 127 finalists and category winners.
Much more than colourful monkey bars and slippery slides, the ICON playground exceeds all the criteria and promotes an active lifestyle for our kids," he said.

Gien added that the judges were impressed by the thorough attention to detail, including the well-considered control panel, tamperproof stainless steel parts, injection moulded pieces, low voltage LED lighting, safety aspects and sustainability and longevity of the hardware which can be easily upgraded by incorporating new software.

ICON is available Australia-wide from KOMPAN. It is currently installed in Robelle Domain, Springfield Lakes, Queensland, with orders in the pipeline throughout the country.

Previous winners in the Australian International Design Awards include the Qantas A380 Economy Seat,Cochlear Nucleus® 24 Contour implant, Flaik snowsports tracking device, Gator LED bike headlight and Ford Territory.