Hoerr Schaudt Delivers $25M Kansas Playscape, Wins Koch Backing
Wichita, Kan. – September 29, 2026 -- Landscape architecture firm Hoerr Schaudt has completed a $25 million civic playscape at Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas, featuring what is believed to be the first aviation-themed playground of its scale in the world and one of the largest educational water play environments in the United States.
Adventure Playscape spans 10 themed environments built into a renaturalized riverfront landscape
As master planner and design lead, Hoerr Schaudt organized the site as a continuous riverfront campus of paths, gardens and native plantings rather than a collection of standalone attractions. The project incorporates more than 40,000 plants emphasizing native Kansas species and grasses, 500 tons of Kansas limestone, and 250 new trees alongside preserved existing trees. City water consumption at Exploration Place is expected to decline through revised irrigation design and stormwater management.