Snapshot: Puffer fish playland

By Sigrid Tornquist

When Izumi Co. Ltd. was contracted for this March 2014 installation at the FukuFuku Kids hall in Shimonoseki, Japan, Mr. Izumi knew his crew was in for some challenges. The client wanted a children’s play area on the building’s third floor themed after the fugu (pronounced “fuku” locally) puffer fish that the Port of Shimonoseki is home to. Because the building construction was already complete, the play equipment needed to be manufactured off-site and sized so that installers could manually carry the pieces to the third floor.

For the ball pool, the team installed a cushion mat fabricated of tent sheet fabric, which they installed in two pieces. The green “Papa” puffer fish, red “Mama” puffer fish and yellow “Child” puffer fish were surfaced with fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) and installed at the periphery of the ball pool. The netted climbing equipment (seen behind the ball pool and puffer fish) included 18 meters of polyester rope, and was also fabricated in pieces and reassembled on-site.