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Mooseheart is a residential childcare facility, located on a 1,000-acre campus 38 miles west of Chicago. The Child City is a home for children and teens in need, from infancy through high school.
The facility contacted Larson & Darby Group to help design their new Mooseheart Activity Centre (MAC). The intent behind MAC was to give the students a place to play and relax.
Visually it had to be bright and fun; exciting and energetic. Beyond aesthetics, it had to perform. It would be subjected to use by kids of all ages; frequent cleaning, and static and live play equipment loads. Combine that with the unique situation of opening up to the outdoor Splash Pad and you find you need a product that can hold up to chlorine and other pool-type chemicals as well as providing slip resistance to not only bare feet, but perhaps feet, hands and knees.
The project required a product that could be heat welded to create an impervious surface; durable and easily maintained. It also required a floor that provided options for vibrant colors.
Larson & Darby consulted with their local Altro representative to review different product options. In the end, Altro Orchestra was chosen for the job. Despite being considered a “hard floor”, it had to appear and feel soft underfoot for walkers, crawlers, runners, and even “fallers”. It truly had to, “check all the boxes between one spectrum and the other.”
Altro Orchestra was the ideal product for the project. Not only did it meet or exceed the functional requirements, such as underfoot comfort and sound reduction, the range boasts some of the brightest colors in the Altro portfolio.
From the first presentation Larson & Darby group gave of the design intent “Roads and Nature” the clients were completely on board with the idea. Using the various colors in Altro Orchestra in such a way to create two “winding roads” to choose from, the kids would encounter on the “drive” blue water, green grass, warm sand and bright sun. The organic nature of the pattern kept it childlike and inspiring.
Photography: Larson & Darby Group
“We couldn’t help but wish we had our big wheels again and go for a test drive!“
