The origin story of POPP.
Technically, POPP was founded in 2009 when three friends incorporated the company Public Outdoor. This is what would be on the Wikipedia page or our Linkedin. But if this was a Netflix documentary, it would start with raw film footage of those same three friends a year earlier. They’d be laughing with a ping pong bat or skateboard in hand, dappled sunlight streaming across their smiling faces. To set the temporal context, there would be a smattering of visual references to the global financial crisis, perhaps a still frame of Bernie Madoff in a baseball cap. And then, out of nowhere, a feeling of peace and calm would drift like a mist over the screen.
Location: John and Andrew, Berlin, Germany
From here on in, shall we visualise this origin story as this raw-footage documentary? Preferably with a soundtrack akin to Optimo DJs boiler room set in Glasgow.
Five Australian friends had rented a second-floor apartment in Prenzlauer Berg, on the east side of Berlin. Of the five, a couple was backpacking around the world and the other three had made trips from Scotland and Australia to wile away the days, see as many gigs as could be discovered, and gorge on radish and falafel filled kebabs from Kreuzberg.
The days started slowly. Andrew, John and Sonja would venture to local parks, skate spots and open spaces with table tennis racquets in hand. Upon arrival in Berlin, they had discovered that well-worn, decades-old and free-to-use concrete outdoor table tennis tables dotted the city’s green spaces.
Propelled by a routine of daily outdoor table tennis, the summer flew by - having fun, getting fitter and, unexpectedly, meeting Berliners. Playing outdoor table tennis was a social catalyst and a warm welcome into a bustling community.
Location: Berlin, Germany
At some tables and times, popularity in outdoor table tennis meant waiting and watching games get won and lost. But the time passed as if in a deep flow state - this was not just about hitting a 2.1 gram celluloid ball (this was 6 years before the ITTF mandated plastic table tennis balls). At its heart, the experience was about being outside in a neighbourhood of locals, watching games play out, applauding points, chatting to opponents, finding doubles partners, air rallying table-less on the sidelines and occasionally, when a beer hall per chance was in sight, enjoying a cold stein of witbier.
A year later, back on the west coast of Australia, John, Andrew and Chris, bounced an idea around to start a table tennis company. Australia was the perfect candidate for outdoor table tennis: It was always sunny in Australia, the propensity for active endeavours and lifestyles was high, the nostalgia of growing up playing ping pong was ever present, and there were a bounty of parks.
Image Credit: Kings Square, Fremantle WA Australia
The co-founders took the leap and set about researching, experimenting, testing, playing on and designing their first outdoor table tennis table - the HERO. In a matter of months, they would become the pioneers of outdoor table tennis in Australia - with a 700kg / 1500lbs fully welded, painted steel table inspired by the silhouette of a skateboard halfpipe. Its hallmarks were three features that would become non-negotiables for every POPP table model:
- Heavy-duty
- Colourful
- Iconic
Location: All Saints College WA Australia
Not satisfied with just one product pitch, the co-founders proposed a second concept to the world - Playable Art. They wanted every POPP table to be multi-faceted and meaningful at any time of day. To achieve this, they designed the HERO as a blank canvas for artists and designers (mostly their friends at the beginning) to transform, tell a story or build a visual sense of place.
Location: Kings Square, Fremantle WA, Australia Artist: Jae Criddle
Location: Weld Square, WA Artwork: Sean Morris
Supported by incredible partners, players and champions of outdoor table tennis, placemaking and POPP - slowly but surely, the company grew its footprint across the country. Initially confined to neighbourhood parks, soon HERO tables found homes in recreational spaces, retail and hospitality precincts, greenfield developments, schools, universities, workplaces, prisons, community centres, mental health facilities, hospitals, skateparks and basketball courts. Outdoor table tennis began embedding itself into all sorts of outdoor communities.
Location: Reebok x HAL Invitational Table Tennis Tournament
Over the years, the iconic, heavy-duty and colour-rich tables also POPPed up (one and only pun) in festivals, hyped Reebok x HAL invitational table tennis tournaments, garage ping pong leagues, magazines, landscape architecture awards, the Olympics and Nike’s headquarters. This piqued the interest of brands, firms and communities in the United States and Canada.
Location: 2016 Olympics, Brazil
Between 2015 and 2020, which included the launch of its sophomore heavy-duty outdoor table tennis table - the Deni Muzaferovic-designed, Buckminster Fuller-inspired ICON, demand increased from North America and beyond and POPP grew before taking another giant leap over the Pacific Ocean - setting up a second production team in Los Angeles, California. Chris and John then spent many months criss-crossing the country visiting architecture firms, local governments and developers, exhibiting at conferences and deep diving into the immersive world of urban and landscape design - from New York to San Diego.
Location: Brooklyn Bridge Park, New York, Photography: CHRIS LUU
For over fifteen years, POPP has held firm as the league leader and innovator in weatherproof, permanent and colourful outdoor table tennis tables. Never forgetting its humble origins, the company remains inspired and energised by the social capital generated from the game. With this inspiration and energy, POPP remains on course in its mission - to make one of the most playable games in the world, the most accessible.
To date, the company has permanently installed its design-led outdoor table tennis tables in over 3,000 communities (and counting) - from Sydney to Singapore, OKC to Oman, Brooklyn to Berlin.
The colour-rich and undeniably heavy duty HERO outdoor table tennis table is the OG of the fold. 700kgs / 1500lbs of fully welded steel, the HERO is designed for colour, artwork and a long, robust life outdoors. Literally anything can be thrown at it (including cyclones and floods - they survived. True stories!). HERO tables have been featured everywhere from Sydney’s beaches to the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro and Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Now available only in Australia, you can find out more about the HERO table here.
Location: North Hollywood CA United States
To meet the demand of customers in North America, the Middle East and Europe (interested in the HERO design), in 2024 POPP launched the in house designed HEROair - its first robotic welded aluminium table available in the company’s most popular colour - Golden Yellow. Innovatively flat-packed for cost-effective freight and blissfully easy assembly, the HEROair takes the POPP vision into the future without geographic, logistical boundaries - and with improved circularity.
Location: Scarborough Beach WA Australia
With the fifth table (MONO) designed by Sydney industrial designers Vert to be launched in 2026 - POPP is also exploring collaborations on other outdoor recreation products, excited by the opportunities and partnerships it has developed in Australia, the United States and EMEA.
Location: Margaret River WA Australia Photography: Anastasia Timoshevski
The company is incredibly proud to be working with some of the best landscape architects, architects and designers across the world - but we are more proud to be creating thousands (upon thousands) of free, social and active moments of table tennis play - across the world, every day. We are honestly humbled and in awe of the scale of daily play opportunities we are helping to realise!
Location; Fremantle WA Australia Photography: James Whineray
Are you interested in partnering or collaborating with POPP? Email us at [email protected] - we would love to hear from you.
Roll credits.
POPP athletes:
Andrew
Sonja
Chris
John
Simran
Cat
Helen
Olivia
Jocelyn
Grace
Brody
Mira
Lorna
Sam
Atsuko
Tam
Alex
Tom
Nadia
Jesse
Rhiannon
Lexi
Resident artists:
Tim
Simran
Sonja
Jae
Jamie
Steve
Anya
Mulga
Minna