WICHITA, Kan., Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Landscape architecture firm Hoerr Schaudt is pleased to announce the completion of the Adventure Playscape, a 6.5-acre outdoor destination on premier science center Exploration Place’s riverfront campus in Wichita. Designed to draw families from across the Midwest, the Adventure Playscape is part of an emerging national movement in destination play.
Since opening, the playscape has boosted museum attendance by 70 percent and is on track to increase Exploration Place’s yearly economic impact from $21 million to $66 million.
As master planner and overall design lead, Hoerr Schaudt designed the playscape as a multigenerational gathering space shaped by Kansas’s landscape, heritage and identity. A $25 million civic investment, the attraction features 10 themed environments, including what is believed to be the first aviation-themed playground of its scale anywhere in the world and one of the largest educational water play environments in the U.S.
Rather than treating the individual play environments as standalone attractions, Hoerr Schaudt organized them within a continuous riverfront landscape of paths, gardens, gathering spaces, shade and native planting, allowing the campus to unfold as one connected experience.
The Adventure Playscape is conceived as much as a landscape as it is a place for play. The project renaturalizes the grounds into expansive prairie and woodland landscapes, featuring more than 40,000 plants that emphasize native Kansas species and grasses, 500 tons of Kansas limestone, the preservation and reintegration of existing site trees, and 250 new trees selected to provide shade and comfort for visitors as the planting matures. Exploration Place’s overall consumption of city water will also decrease through efficiencies in irrigation design and stormwater management.
While planning the Adventure Playscape, Hoerr Schaudt Principal Matthew Macchietto, the project’s lead designer, met with nearly a dozen community groups and consulted with occupational therapist and inclusive design expert Ingrid Kanics to ensure that every environment addresses the full range of visitor needs, from wheelchair access and mobility to the needs of children who experience busy, stimulating environments differently. A dedicated sensory garden offers a calmer space within the playscape for those who need it.
“Playgrounds are the ultimate medium for egoless design. They work when people of different ages, abilities and ways of experiencing the world can all find a place for themselves—and for one another,” said Macchietto. “Exploration Place was created to make science feel open to everyone, and the landscape outside had to do the same work.”
Serving as a catalyst for local families and regional tourism, the playscape’s strong opening has also generated continued support from the Wichita community, including a recent $1 million investment from Koch, Inc.
Access to the Adventure Playscape is included with general admission to Exploration Place, located at 300 N. McLean Blvd., Wichita, Kan., and open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and until 9 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays.
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SOURCE Hoerr Schaudt
