Our obsession with play-based learning has its roots in the mountains and is born out of a love for adventure. We are climbers, skiers, boaters, mountain bikers and hikers, who explore the natural world with our family and friends.

True to these roots, our team of talented designers and fabricators use this intimacy with the outdoors to create nature inspired play sculptures that are authentic down to the smallest detail.

Kids climbing on sculpted concrete stacked stone playground feature in Lyons Colorado

Our Philosophy

ID Sculpture is the industry leader in meeting the developmental needs of children through climbing activities. We do this by combining carefully designed physical challenges with imaginative play and a commitment to our core principals.

  • Kids thrive when they feel an authentic sense of adventure and can safely explore their limits
  • Nothing fosters learning like imagination
  • Every project is local and should reflect the spirit of its community
  • Everyone should have access to play; universal design should be a part of all playgrounds
  • Playgrounds should appeal to adults as much as children
  • Collaboration is the cornerstone of good design
  • As stewards of the environment, we have a responsibility to minimize our impacts and build the most durable products possible
Tools of the trad: implements used in creating hand-sculpted climging features

Technology + Craft + Engineering

ID Sculpture’s marriage of digital fabrication and handcraft allows us to create products that are unique to your needs while maintaining accurate detail at all scales.

Throughout the creative process, we use tried and true technology to make sure we’re creating structures and designs that match your expectations. We use laser scanning, Haptic modeling and 3D visualization to test our concepts three-dimensionally. Once a sculpture is approved, we use CNC machines to exactly replicate the approved design. Finally, our talented team of artists hand sculpt and finish the surface.

This method allows us to work quickly and accurately at a variety of scales while maintaining complete creative control—the options for customization are nearly limitless.

“If you want to do something nice for a child, give them an environment where they can touch things as much as they want.”
-Buckminster Fuller, 1972

History

Climbers and craftsmen inspecting the details of a rock face

At ID Sculpture, our obsession with play and experiential learning has its roots in the outdoor world. Founder Ian Glas developed a deep passion for rock climbing at an early age and climbed like it was his job for over a decade. When sending routes didn’t pay the bills, Ian took his skill and knowledge to a then fledgling climbing-wall industry. Dissatisfied with the industry standard plywood and steel fabrication methods, Ian and a small group of like-minded makers, climbers, and inventors set about developing a more flexible design and fabrication system. When Ian and company hit upon a sculptable cementitious coating that could be applied to a contoured structural armature, they knew they were really on to something big.

In 2005, Ian founded Integrated Design Solutions, which quickly evolved into the company we are today, ID Sculpture. We have assembled a team of talented designers and craftsmen who employ a sophisticated quiver of tools to bring play and art together. True to our roots, our designs, aesthetic sensibilities, and the smallest details of our finished textures are inspired by nature. We are committed to creating custom interactive sculptures and environments that set the stage for imaginative play and foster generation-spanning interactions. And we are always striving to capture that sense of freedom and wonder that inspired Ian Glas’s passion nearly three decades ago when he first laid hands on stone and climbed.

We proudly design and build in our Rocky Mountain home of Gunnison, Colorado.