Buying Guide · Project Preparation

How to Prepare Your Playground Project Brief

By Dream Garden Project Team Reading time: 6 min read Last reviewed: October 2026

In short: a useful brief answers seven core questions — where the project is, how big the space is, what structural constraints exist (clear height and columns), who will play, what activities they want, what you plan to spend, and when you want to open. You can start with partial answers; this guide shows what to record now and what can wait.

Who this guide is for

First-time buyers planning an FEC, shopping mall anchor, school, park, hotel or community play venue
Operators preparing their first technical conversation with a playground equipment manufacturer
Commercial procurement teams collecting venue specifications from architects, landlords, or partners

Step 01

Confirm your project location and site stage

Write down the country and city, the venue type (shopping mall, family entertainment center, school, municipal park, resort hotel, restaurant kids zone, or private residence), and the current site status: still exploring sites, lease secured, under construction, or upgrading an existing operational facility.

Location is not just a shipping address — it decides destination documentation (e.g. SASO for Saudi Arabia, CE/EN1176 for the EU, ASTM for the Americas, AS 4685 for Australia), container shipping transit schedules, and, for outdoor installations, critical climatic factors such as UV intensity and wind-load engineering.

Example Brief Opening “Indoor FEC in an urban shopping mall, Santiago, Chile. Unit secured, 5.2m clear height, target opening in about eight months.”

Step 02

Record floor area and clear height — with units

Measure the usable floor area and state the unit every time: square metres (m²) or square feet (sq ft). For indoor venues, the single most critical figure is clear height (free headroom) — the distance from the finished floor to the lowest overhead obstruction: concrete beams, HVAC ducts, sprinkler pipes, or hanging lights. Measure at several points if the ceiling varies.

Different equipment families have different height appetites:

3.0m – 3.8m: Ideal for toddler play, sensory corners, and single-to-double level kids cafes.
4.2m – 5.0m: The golden standard for standard 3-level indoor multi-activity soft play structures and climbing tubes.
5.5m – 7.5m+: Required for commercial trampoline parks, high-rope net courses, rollgliders, and ninja warrior arenas.

Step 03

Mark columns, entrances and delivery access

Columns decide where play towers and slides can safely stand without sightline occlusion; entrances and emergency exits decide visitor circulation and fire egress routes. Note column positions and the center-to-center spacing between them, door locations, and anything overhead that cannot be moved.

Also record how the equipment will physically enter the building: service elevator dimensions, freight door widths, floor load capacity (minimum 350–500 kg/m² recommended), and landlord restrictions on delivery and noise hours. These factors dictate factory packaging sizes and assembly sequencing.

Step 04

Prepare floor plans, CAD drawings or deliberate photos

Any format helps: architect drawings (AutoCAD DWG, DXF or PDF), an estate agent lease plan, or a simple hand sketch with handwritten measurements. If you have nothing on paper yet, photograph the empty space deliberately:

The entire hall from all four corners with wide-angle perspective
The ceiling and overhead MEP (ducts, sprinklers, lighting tracks)
Columns, perimeter walls and level changes (steps, mezzanines)
Main guest entrances, emergency exit corridors and delivery loading bay

No CAD drawings yet? You can still initiate technical consultations — approximate dimensions are sufficient for our engineers to generate an initial 2D functional layout.

Step 05

Define target ages and activity preferences

Who plays dictates what gets manufactured. Note the age groups you serve — toddlers (1-3 yrs), young children (4-8 yrs), older kids & pre-teens (9-14 yrs), or mixed family groups — and whether they require dedicated physical zoning.

Highlight your preferred activity mix: high-speed multi-lane wave slides, donut slides, ball blaster arenas, foam pits, trampoline slam dunks, role-play towns, sensory corners, or digital interactive games. Theme references (space, jungle, ocean, cyberpunk, minimalist Scandinavian) are also welcomed.

Step 06

Record budget range and milestone dates

State your estimated equipment budget as a range with your currency (e.g. $50,000 – $90,000 USD), and specify whether you expect this to cover equipment ex-factory only, or full CIF/DDP delivery plus on-site engineer installation supervision.

Project timing works backward: your target grand opening date sets the required container delivery date, which dictates the ocean shipping window (typically 3–5 weeks), which in turn determines when 3D design approval and CNC manufacturing must commence.

Step 07

List technical points to confirm with your supplier

A good brief serves as a benchmark to audit the manufacturer's proposal. Before transferring deposits or committing, ensure the supplier confirms in writing:

Itemized bill of materials and structural frame gauge (galvanized steel wall thickness >= 2.5mm)
Applicable international certificates in the factory's own name (TÜV EN 1176, SGS ASTM F1918)
Detailed shipping terms (Incoterms 2020), container count (CBM) and packing protection
Pre-shipment 1:1 factory trial assembly photo and video verification
Overseas on-site installation guidance, supervisor dispatch terms, and warranty duration

Download the Playground Project Checklist

A printable, one-page brief template covering all seven steps. Fill it out in any text editor, attach your site photos or sketches, and email or message it directly to our engineering team.

Download Checklist (TXT) Discuss Your Project

Plain text (TXT) · 100% Free · No contact form barrier. Reviewed October 2026.