Memorial City Mall

Memorial City is essentially a city-within-a-city in Houston, covering 265 acres of mixed-use space. The area houses offices, high-rise luxury residential buildings, two hotels and a large medical center. Additionally, it’s home to the Memorial City Mall with 1.7 million square feet of retail bliss.

MetroNational, which owns and manages the entity, was searching for the ideal partner to create and install a play space to boost family shopping experiences. That’s when the leadership contacted Soft Play^®.

The Largest Indoor Play Area in the Nation

If there’s one thing Texas is known for, it’s pride in being big and bold. The Memorial City Mall brought Soft Play on board to embrace that value and demonstrate it with playful, larger-than-life designs and two years in the making.

The Vision

MetroNational had a singular focus for the Memorial City Mall Play Area — creating the best experience possible for guests, regardless of age. The company devoted over 3,000 square feet to the project and chose a medieval-themed design to transport kids to a fairy-tale world.

The company’s spokesperson was delighted to collaborate with Soft Play because of our organization’s recognized industry expertise and exceptional customer service. Management trusted us to deliver on the vision with a whole new level of experiential play.

The Challenges

With its large-scale elements, this themed indoor play space was one of the most challenging our engineering team has undertaken. The design called for custom indoor play sculptures spanning significant lengths, widths and heights, including a three-story castle and 12-foot long element.

MetroNational also wanted to include interactive technology within some elements. Our design team worked closely with the mall’s leadership to incorporate one-of-a-kind features that would bring the space to life for the kids playing there.

Soft Play Features in the Memorial City Mall Play Area

As the largest indoor play area in America, the space contains a range of unique elements designed and manufactured by Soft Play. Our team helped create:

• A 12-foot sleeping giant: Kids can explore and climb upon the sleeping giant to learn about size differences and perception. He’s flanked by climbable mushrooms offering a stepping-stone-like path to navigate while practicing balance.
• A fire-breathing dragon sculpture: One of the hallmark pieces Soft Play designed is a foam sculpture representing a fire-breathing dragon. Incorporated technology even makes it roar as kids play on it!
• Flying dragons: Overhead, dragons soar above the play area to lend more authenticity to this magical experience. We named one of the Soft Play dragons Frolic, spawning the play area’s name, Frolic’s Castle.
• A bubbling cauldron: The Soft Play team designed a cauldron element to light up and make bubbling sounds as kids interact with it. The feature also has sculpted foam bubbles for textural stimulation.
• A three-story castle: This element provides three levels of play to explore and features face cut-outs for unique photo-taking opportunities. Kids can pretend to be a princess holding a frog and more.
• A troll bridge: Bridges do more than connect play areas — they help kids learn balance and coordination. This one features a slide-down exit and a nearby troll to inspire imaginative gameplay.
• Excalibur and knight sculptures: These elements whisk kids back to enchanted forests, Camelot and the days of King Arthur. The sword in the stone spurs fun and creative contests.
• Bear tunnels: Tunnels are ideal for hiding and crawling, supporting coordinating movement on both sides of the body. They’re also great for encouraging exploration from different perspectives.

The Results

Advanced engineering helped ensure the play area is a safe attraction for fun all year. The community response has been fantastic, with management declaring families love the space’s theme, design and careful attention to antibacterial construction materials. The Soft Play layout also prioritizes visibility to make supervision easier, and parents appreciate that.

Our one-of-a-kind design allows kids to:

• Role-play with fairy-tale elements, like a frog prince or gators in the castle moat.
• Make up their own medieval fantasy games.
• Explore cause and effect with a roaring dragon and bubbling cauldron.

Retailers are also thrilled with the new play area since it’s increased foot traffic in their stores. The mall’s leadership credits Frolic’s Castle for drawing more families to the shopping center and entertaining them so they stay longer.

Trust Soft Play for Magical Experiences

Soft Play has a legacy of excellent results in designing and manufacturing play elements to inspire kids’ imaginations and focus on fun. Companies worldwide have trusted us to help them create magical play experiences since 1984.

Our expert team can help you bring your vision to life with pre-designed indoor foam sculptures or custom-made solutions to fit your budget and footprint.

Take the next step by requesting an online quote, or connect with a representative for assistance with personalized design services.