Just in time to beat the heat of summer, The Playground at the National Building Museum is open for all ages to experience creative play. The Museum’s iconic Great Hall has been transformed into an awe-inspiring 14,000-square-foot imaginative landscape. Designed for exploration, creativity, and intergenerational play, it promotes climbing, building, gathering, and relaxing, through play in an air-conditioned space until August 30. 

About The Playground at The National Building Museum

Developed with New York-based design practice, Snarkitecture, The Playground is the largest indoor installation in the Museum’s history. It reimagines the familiar playground through inventive design and extraordinary scale. Scaffolding, birch plywood, cork, rope, and other materials take on new purposes through nine distinct activity zones.

Navigating The Playground at The National Building Museum

Rather than dictating how visitors should move through the space, the installation encourages each person to chart their own course. While there, you’ll experience how thoughtful design transforms ordinary materials into extraordinary experiences. 

The Hill serves as the centerpiece of The Playground. Layers of birch plywood become a sculptural landscape with slides, tunnels, and places to gather. From there, visitors are invited to continue exploring the installation’s eight additional activity zones:

• Navigate a 100-foot Obstacle Course
• Climb a 15-foot Climbing Wall
• Unwind in oversized rope hammocks
• Shoot hoops at the Sport Court
• Wander through the Wavy Walls maze
• Dig through the Dig Pit, a construction-inspired play space filled with natural cork

One of the installation’s most distinctive spaces is the Adventure Yard. Young builders are invited to imagine, construct, test ideas, and collaborate with real materials and tools to explore the fundamentals of design and making. The space encourages creativity, problem-solving, and confidence through hands-on exploration. It also demonstrates the built environment is not just something we inhabit, but something we can help shape.

Nearby, the Tot Spot offers the Museum’s youngest visitors an age-appropriate place to discover, climb, and play. 

While there, take note of the selection of materials that is central to design of The Playground at The National Building Museum.

• Industrial scaffolding frames spaces for gathering and recreation
• Cork, a renewable material more often associated with construction and manufacturing, fills the Dig Pit, inviting visitors to dig, build, and imagine
• Layered birch plywood shapes The Hill and Wavy Walls
• Recycled flooring provides a durable surface throughout the installation 

Is The Playground at The National Building Museum just for kids?

No! The Playground is designed for visitors of every generation! Immersive environments, thoughtful design, and opportunities for open-ended exploration make it a great place for all ages to visit! 

“Playgrounds are where so many of us first discover the joy of exploring, creating, and connecting with others,” said Aileen Fuchs, President and Executive Director of the National Building Museum. 

“This installation reminds us that public spaces have the power to bring people together, spark curiosity, and create lasting memories. We hope every visitor leaves with a smile, a sense of possibility, and a deeper appreciation for the role that thoughtfully designed places play in our lives.” 

Whether climbing, creating, gathering with friends, or simply taking in the space, every visit to The Playground offers a different experience. 

Visiting The Playground at The National Building Museum

The Playground at The National Building is open daily through August 30, 2026. Timed tickets are included with Museum admission and may be reserved in advance through the National Building Museum website.

Come for The Playground and enjoy the other things The National Building Museum has to offer this summer. Before you go, check out the full calendar of programs and special events for adults, teens, children, and families including:

• Hands-on workshops inspired by the installation 
• Permanent and special exhibitions
• Late Nights featuring live music, food, and drinks for adults
• Weekly story times, Building Readers Club events, STEAM Saturdays, and drop-in artmaking activities for kids 

The National Building Museum provided me with free tickets to attend The Playground but no compensation was received for this post. All opinions are my own. Images courtesy of The National Building Museum.