Sports equipment for architects, landscape architects and design offices
A specifier needs three things before drawing anything: the real footprint of the equipment including its safety zones, the anchoring type and the ground condition it expects, and the complete normative reference to be copied into the technical specification. This page sets out what Light In Fitness provides to architects, landscape architects, engineers and design offices integrating sports equipment into a project, whether the client is a municipality, a hotel group, a developer or a shipyard.
We manufacture bespoke sports structures and distribute professional indoor and outdoor equipment, with more than 2,000 references in catalogue. The same contact handles concept stage and construction stage, which avoids the usual break in information when the project moves from design to procurement.
What you need at design stage
| Item | What it drives in your project |
|---|---|
| Ground footprint and safety zones | The area to be reserved always exceeds the equipment envelope: free space and falling space are added around it |
| Free height of fall | Determines the performance required of the surfacing and therefore its thickness and build up |
| Anchoring type and foundations | Cast in, base plate on slab or buried post: this determines the earthworks, the reinforcement and the voids to leave |
| Material and surface treatment | Galvanised steel, coated galvanised steel or stainless steel: the choice follows exposure, distance from the coast and the maintenance the client will actually carry out |
| Complete normative reference | Part number and use class, copied verbatim into the specification so that the requirement becomes enforceable |
| Declaration of performance for the flooring | Full reaction to fire classification, required in premises open to the public |
| Drainage and levels | Standing water under a station shortens the life of any coating and makes surfacing test results unreliable |
Choosing the right standard family at concept stage
This is the decision that structures the rest of the project and the one that costs most to correct on site.
| Type of scheme | Standard | Intended users |
|---|---|---|
| Children’s play area | EN 1176 for equipment, EN 1177 for surfacing | Children |
| Free access outdoor fitness area | EN 16630 | Users taller than 1,400 mm |
| Free access multi-sport equipment | EN 15312 | All users |
| Indoor room, collective use | EN 957 and EN ISO 20957, use class S | Adults, supervised or unsupervised |
| Indoor multi-sport surfaces | EN 14904 | All users |
| Outdoor fitness specified to American practice | ASTM F3101 | Export projects |
A station does not change nature by changing location. Equipment designed for indoor use and certified to EN ISO 20957 is neither designed nor tested for permanent exposure to weather and ultraviolet light, and siting it outdoors takes the operator outside the scope of the standard. A canopy does not change that. Conversely, an EN 16630 station installed indoors is over specified but not non compliant, and is sometimes the right answer for an unsupervised residential gym.
The clause specifications most often omit
Three wordings are enough to make a requirement verifiable and to eliminate undocumented offers at tender analysis:
- Require the complete normative reference with the part number and the use class, not the bare standard number.
- Require the declaration of performance for the floor covering with its full reaction to fire classification, including the smoke and flaming droplet indices, not an abbreviated Euroclass letter.
- For outdoor work, require a third party test report naming the edition of the standard and listing by name the stations covered, not a generic manufacturer statement.
Requirements family by family are set out on our equipment standards and compliance page, and ready to copy clause text on technical specifications for a sports equipment tender.
Designing for the operating phase
A completed scheme becomes an operating liability. The client inherits precise duties: an upkeep plan, a maintenance plan, regular inspection, a dated inspection register for each site, display of the operator identity at every entrance, and retention of the manufacturer manuals. Those duties are set out on operator duties and inspection records.
Two consequences for the designer. First, leave a maintenance access around each station, wide enough for a person with a torque wrench and a step ladder, and keep planting back from moving parts. Second, choose a material consistent with the level of maintenance the client will realistically fund. A galvanised and coated steel park in a coastal town with no maintenance budget will look tired within five years, where 316L stainless steel will not. Warranties run from two to five years depending on the range, with extended cover available on steel structures.
Materials by exposure
| Exposure | Recommended material | Maintenance implication |
|---|---|---|
| Inland urban park, normal atmosphere | Hot dip galvanised steel, powder coated | Annual visual check, touch up of coating damage |
| Coastal site, salt spray | 316L stainless steel, including fixings | Fresh water rinsing, no repainting cycle |
| Poolside, chlorinated atmosphere | 316L stainless steel | Rinsing and inspection of fixings |
| On board a vessel | 316L stainless steel, deck fixed | Covered on sports equipment on board a ship |
Division into lots on a project that includes sports equipment
Under European public procurement law, a contract must normally be divided into lots or the authority must record why it was not. Equipment, surfacing and installation are separable services, so separate lots are the default. Where a single lot is retained, the argument that usually holds is technical coordination between the anchors and the surfacing, particularly when the anchor passes through the finished surface or the surfacing warranty depends on how the equipment is fixed. This is developed on buying sports equipment through public tender.
Bespoke manufacture
When the project requires a geometry, a colour or a combination of stations that does not exist in catalogue, the structure is manufactured to order from the site plan. Dimensions, colours and station configuration are set from your drawings, and the resulting assembly is certified against the applicable standard before delivery. See turnkey projects and case studies.
Frequently asked questions
How much space must be reserved around an outdoor station?
More than its envelope. The applicable standard defines a free space and a falling space that are added to the equipment footprint, and their dimensions vary station by station and with the height of the activity. Ask the manufacturer for the reserved area station by station rather than applying a single clearance to the whole area.
Can indoor equipment be installed outdoors under a canopy?
Equipment certified to EN ISO 20957 is neither designed nor tested for permanent exposure to weather and ultraviolet light, and a canopy does not change the scope of the standard. A free access outdoor installation calls for equipment under EN 16630, anchored and corrosion protected.
Which material should be specified near the sea?
Salt exposure accelerates corrosion of coated steel, especially at welds, fixings and any point where the coating is drilled on site. Grade 316L stainless steel is the appropriate answer within a few kilometres of the shore. Coated galvanised steel remains viable further inland, with a reinforced maintenance plan and a touch up budget.
How do we write a compliance requirement that can actually be checked?
State the complete normative reference with part number and use class, the declaration of performance for the surfacing with its full reaction to fire classification, and, for outdoor work, a third party test report naming the edition of the standard and listing the stations covered. Each of these can be checked against a document at tender analysis, which a general claim of compliance cannot.
Does the client inherit duties after handover?
Yes. The client becomes the operator: upkeep plan, maintenance plan, regular inspection, dated inspection register for each site, display of its identity at every entrance, and retention of the manuals. Flagging this in the handover file, with the manuals attached, is good practice and protects the design team.
Working together on a project
Send us the site plan, the ground condition and the intended users. You receive a layout with safety zones, the normative references to copy into your specification, and a priced quotation within 24 working hours. Delivery is covered in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg, with export freight priced project by project.
Use request a quote, see turnkey projects, or browse sports equipment by facility type.