Triumph Park, EPIC Playground
Waukee, IA USA
IA - Triumph Park
Video features a Landscape Structures inclusive and futuristic style playground at Triumph Park in Waukee Iowa.
[video: scene fades into an elevated view of a large, enclosed playground next to an inclusive baseball field at that next to a larger four fields baseball complex. A larger concrete parking lot with a handful of cars sits behinds the playground and inclusive baseball field. Walking paths surround the fields and playground area and the end of a small lake. Camera switches to an elevated view at the end of the large play area. The camera pans vertically showing more of the large inclusive play structure as children play all around. White text at the bottom of the screen reads “Triumph Park…”]
[video: a play panel reads “Be a meteorologist!” with symbols and images explaining meteorology. Scene switches to a second panel that reads “Let’s talk about gravity”. Scene switches to a view of children playing on a multi seated see-saw with the large unique futuristic play structure with towers in the background. The camera focuses up to children as they walk through a cargo next connecting bridge between two towers. Four children play together on the multi-person see-saw. Two boys spin together on an inclusive sell propelled merry go round. Scene fades to black and back into a view of the inside of the merry go round as a girl sits on one of the seats while a boy stands next to her as they spin. A girl spins the central gear shaped handhold attached to the central post of the merry go round. The camera pans around merry go round to the different children sitting standing and spinning the merry go round from the outside. Scene switches to a girl as she spins her friends on a large multi seated orange spinner. The camera focuses on a girl as she comfortably lounges in one of the seats of the spinner while a boy pushes the spinner from the outside. He hops up onto the spinner and goes for a ride himself. Camera switches to an elevated circling view over the park towers as families play all around the park. Scene switches to a boy as he speaks about the playground.]
Boy: I’m twelve, my favorite part about is like the parkour thing when you get up and get to the slide because that’s like fun.
[video: a boy climbs up a central chimney shaped cargo net climber while a girl climbs up a spiral belted pathway leading up into one of the playground towers. The camera pans up into the tower showing the unique cargo netted ropes and belted walking path. Children climb up the chimney cargo net climber to the top of the tower. The camera pans around the top of the inside of the tower. Wire grates allow for a view of the surrounding lake and the tops of the surrounding towers. Scene switches to a boy as he holds the camera facing himself as he rides down a large spiral tubed slide. Scene switches to a girl as she talks about the playground.]
Girl: and I love that it has many activities to do, it’s just super fun.
[video: a girl sits on a single seat green spinner as she slowly spins round and round. The camera pans up the side of a large yellow tubed slide connected to one of the playground towers. Camera switches to a young girl as she talks about the playgrounds.]
Girl 2: And I like the slides because there a really fast and they’re really big.
[video: a boy and his friend stand on a playground bridge as one of the boys talks about the playground.]
Boy 2: My favorite is also the slides. I don’t know they’re just really fun.
[video: view of the bottom of a large stainless-steel slide. A girl slides out of the bottom exit of the slide. A woman at the bottom of the slide excitedly waits for the girl.]
Woman: Whoo! How was it?
Girl: Super fast and super fun! [girl jumps up and down]
[video: elevated view of the three connected canister shaped tower connected to a fourth square tower. The camera rotates around the towers. Scene switches to an elevated view of a mother as she supports her son as he swings across some monkey bars. A boy climbs up a green arched with rung handholds playground climber. A boy quickly runs across a clattering playground bridge towards the camera. Scene switches as a boy carefully steps from the shifting a moving disc bridge. Scene switches to a full bird’s eye view of the park. Scene switches back to a ground view of the three canister shaped towers. Scene switches to a view down a sensory walking tunnel with circular play panels and viewing windows. Children walk through the tunnel at play at the panels. Camera focuses on a boy’s hand as he runs his it over the shifting marbles of a play panel. A girl looks up to the camera and waves happily. Scene switches to a boy as he walks up to and looks through a periscope on an overlook balcony. Camera switches to a ground outside view of the connecting tunnel of two of the towers. A girl looks out through one of the bubble panels of the tunnel. Camera switches to a view up the side of the square tower. Unique perforated siding and bubble window makes it look so futuristic.]
[video: a girl standing up in the top of one of the towers talks about the playground. She is illuminated by a warm orange glow from the orange acrylic siding panels.]
Girl: I like the towers and the slides.
[video: a second girl up in the tower talks about the playground.
Girl 2: I really like the lake view because it’s calming and stuff.
[video: the girl walks over to a bubble window and looks out towards the lake. A third girl speaks to the camera about the playground.]
Girl 3: I like the towers because you get to go down the slides.
[video: the first girl continues to talk about the playground.]
Girl: I love the light in here.
[video: the camera pans around the inside of the tower showing the sun gleaming through the perforated panels accented with the different colored acrylic. Scene switches to a group of children climbing across a cargo netted connected tower tunnel. Camera switches to a view down the tunnel as they children crawl across. Scene switches to a pan around view of the entire play area. Scene fades to black and back into a focused view of the top of one of the canisters towers. A girl looks through the grated siding from inside the tower. Scene fades to black and back into a side view of three children walking through the connected cargo net tunnel of two of the towers. Scene fades to black and back into a full elevated view as the camera begins to pan away from the play area.]
[video: scene fades into a full elevated view of the play area with the lake behind it at a twilight setting. White text at the bottom of the screen reads “At night, the towers light up…adding to the park’s futuristic look.]
[video: with an elevated view the camera pans around the towers of the play area showing two parallel light bars on each tower. The camera switches to a higher viewing point as the sky is darker and the tower and surrounding walking path lights glow brighter. Screen switches quickly to white. A black vertical line draws itself center left on screen. The Outdoor Recreation Products rep company logo slides out to the right of the black line. Then the Landscape Structures logo slides out to the left. Text fades in below both logos reading “For a better tomorrow we play today”. Screen fades to black and video ends.]
Playground Details
Age Ranges
- 2 to 5 years
- 5 to 12 years
Play Styles
- Towers
- Inclusive Play
- Custom
Product Lines/ Categories
Min Area Required
- 179' x 111' (54,56 m x 33,83 m)
-
- 2-5 Area: 71' x 46' (21,64 m x 14,02 m)
- 5-12 Area: 115' x 70' (35,05 m x 21,34 m)
Max Fall Height
- 156" (3,96 m)
Design/CAD Files for this Playground
Design files are not available for this custom design. Contact your local playground consultant for additional details.Design Standards
![astm](/https/www.playlsi.com/globalassets/_filters/astm_57x.jpg)
Price Range (USD)
$200K-$500K+
Pricing for custom playground equipment varies. For international and exact pricing, please contact your local playground consultant.
A playground, but make it futuristic. Mission accomplished at Triumph Park! The focus of this playground design is the four interconnected playground towers. Each tower is packed with play value—cargo net climbers, belted climbers, port holes and so much more! Plus, each of the tallest towers have colorful and thrilling playground slides as a way to exit back to earth. Play-functionally linked to the towers is a fully-inclusive PlayBooster® playstructure for kids ages 5 to 12 complete with a Sway Fun® Glider, sensory play panels, climbers, slides and freestanding spinners like the We-Go-Round®. Plus, there is a play space for toddlers and preschoolers, which includes another fully ramped playground structure packed with age-appropriate challenges. Additionally, there are hillside climbers and slides, Rhapsody® Outdoor Musical Instruments, Oodle® Swing and so much more to keep the entire family active and engaged for hours of play. And to keep everyone protected and comfortable, SkyWays® commercial shade sails were included over portions of the playground.
Embracing the future of Waukee, Iowa, with inclusive design at Triumph Park
Incorporated on July 2, 1878, Waukee, Iowa, thrived as a vibrant coal mine community until 1949, when the state's largest coal producer ceased operations. However, the spirit of progress and collaboration among Waukee's residents and city leaders never wavered. Today, Waukee proudly holds the title of the fastest growing city in Iowa, offering a warm and welcoming environment characterized by a strong sense of community. With exceptional schools, well-maintained parks, extensive trails, a diverse range of entertainment options, and numerous opportunities for personal growth and development, Waukee truly embodies the essence of a thriving and dynamic city.
The visionary Triumph Park, EPIC Playground stands tall as a testament to the harmonious collaboration between the City of Waukee, the Waukee Community School District and the Waukee Betterment Foundation. Across a pond from Waukee’s Northwest High School, which opened in 2021, is a recreational haven, boasting the iconic playground, an accessible fishing pier and the Miracle League® Field. With the intent to be an inclusive space, Triumph Park was designed to act as a beacon to bring people of all abilities together for play and recreation.
Meeting a need
“The partnership with the Waukee Community School District was important in the development of the park,” explained Matt Jermier, parks and recreation director at the City of Waukee. “Trail connectivity within the park was significant—it connects 60-acres of parkland—but those trails also serve as safe routes to school for many kids.”
Additionally, the City of Waukee worked with the Heartland AEA to identify the need for a Miracle League Field in its community, and to determine how many people in Dallas County would utilize an all-inclusive facility. It became clear that there was a need not only in Waukee, but within Dallas County.
“After confirming the need, our goal was to put the all-inclusive playground, Miracle League baseball field and create an accessible fishing pier—the first in Dallas County—all together at the center of the park,” said Jermier. “Then build the rest of the park around that.”
The rest of the park? That includes 12 baseball fields, practice spaces, batting cages, accessible restrooms, a concession stand, 750 parking spaces, greenspace, and three miles of trails connecting to area neighborhoods and regional trail systems.
Bringing in the experts
The city partnered with Confluence, the leading landscape architecture, planning and urban design firm in the Midwest with nine offices strategically located throughout the region, to expertly craft the overall park plans.
“We knew that Triumph Park was going to be a regional attraction,” said Jermier. “So, we wanted to create a playground that was bigger and better than anything we had seen.”
With those multiple goals in mind—creating a destination play space that was also fully inclusive—the team reached out to playground experts Landscape Structures Inc. and their Iowa-based consultant, Outdoor Recreation Products, for help.
“We shared our goal for an all-inclusive playground—meaning all portions of the space needed to be activated for all abilities—and the teams at Landscape Structures and Outdoor Recreation Products really helped us figure out what that right mix was,” said Matt Carlile, PLA, principal at Confluence. “We also shared overall big picture sketches of the design concept, and their designer ran with it to help us get it right.”
A vision realized
The heart of the Triumph Park playground design lies in its centerpiece--interconnected, accessible towers. Allison Koeckeritz, senior custom designer at Landscape Structures, drew inspiration for the three iconic structures from the historic grain elevators that dot the landscape of downtown Waukee. However, the goal was to create a design that reflected the future of Waukee rather than its history.
The towers, offering a 360-degree panoramic view of the park and its surroundings, were designed with inclusivity in mind and feature a double ramp leading to the first tower to ensure that individuals of all ages and abilities could enjoy the grand entry. A double-decker sensory tunnel, which delivers parallel play, leads to the next tower where kids of all abilities can make their way all the way to the top with the spiral belting within the tower structure. Each of the tallest towers have lights installed in the roofs that shine at night.
“Those three towers are borderline art pieces as well as playground structures,” said Carlile. “And if you look across the pond or from the roadways around the area, those towers become sort of a beacon to show that it’s there.”
Play-functionally linked to the towers is a fully inclusive PlayBooster® playstructure for kids ages 5 to 12 complete with a Sway Fun® Glider, sensory play panels, climbers, slides and integrated shade sails. A play space for toddlers and preschoolers was also incorporated into the design, which includes another fully ramped playground structure packed with age-appropriate challenges. Additionally, there are many freestanding play components like the We-Go-Round®, Rhapsody® Outdoor Musical Instruments, Oodle® Swing and more to keep the entire family active and engaged in hours of play.
Additionally, strategically placed berms serve as seating areas for parents and caregivers, offering respite and vantage points throughout the park.
The first of its kind
The accessible fishing pier is a uniquely designed amenity for Triumph Park. In fact, it’s the first accessible fishing pier within Dallas County.
“While the dock itself floats, the gangway that comes out to meet the land is guaranteed to be ADA accessible,” explained Carlile. “Before the water gets too high so the slope would be going up, the water in the pond runs over the dam. Or if the water gets too low, the pier’s steel structure will catch so that the slope is still less than 5 percent. No matter the extreme conditions, individuals of all abilities will be able to access the fishing pier.”
Captivating visitors near and far
Triumph Park opened in June 2022, and since then has had more than 500,000 visits from all over the country. People visiting the complex for baseball/softball tournaments aren’t leaving during breaks; they spend time at the playground with younger siblings and bring their fishing poles to fish for a few hours between games.
“We usually see at least one bus out there every day,” said Jermier. “It’s becoming a field trip hot spot and day-trip destination. There was a school district nearby that brought all of their kindergarten through grade 12 students with special needs for a field trip to the playground.”
Triumph Park's impact extends beyond recreation; it serves as a catalyst for economic development. The park's proximity to burgeoning housing developments and its reputation as a recreation destination have invigorated the local economy. Local businesses have witnessed a surge in activity, prompting them to prepare for increased footfall and capitalize on the park's popularity.
As Triumph Park continues to thrive, its significance becomes increasingly apparent. The Park stands as a testament to the remarkable growth and quality of life that characterizes Waukee. By cultivating an environment that fosters inclusivity, unity and shared experiences, Triumph Park has become a cherished symbol of the community's progressive vision. As visitors explore the park's offerings, they are not only treated to a memorable experience but also reminded of the unwavering spirit and commitment of the people of Waukee.
Installed: May 2022
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Playground consultant for this project
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