The Soothing Sounds Of Water

How to integrate placemaking water features into a park

By Josh Martin
Photos: Thadd Fiala

Community parks have never been needed as much as in recent times. Meeting other people while taking a stroll or stopping to watch water flow from a fountain has helped offer meaningful connections in this time of such isolation. That’s why it is so important to offer the spaces and elements that can help cultivate community and make a park a great public place.

Designers and urban planners refer to the concept of “placemaking” when attempting to foster pedestrian-friendly spaces that attract people and create social activity. Placemaking is a combination of factors that can draw the public into a gathering place—accessibility, cleanliness, safety, and more. These elements also point to a single, unique draw to any place: the inclusion of water.

Park operators who are fortunate enough to manage a natural body of water—ponds, lakes, or riverfronts—can attest to the attraction of water. However, what’s missing from these types of parks (and why they aren’t automatically considered great public places) is the ability to touch the water. Consider the redevelopment of the Cincinnati Riverfront at Smale Park: while the banks of the Ohio River offered a beautiful backdrop for the park, the project still included numerous staircase water features, impressive two-story, rain curtain fountains, and multiple interactive water features. Because of the water-feature additions that Martin Aquatic Design & Engineering completed in 2012, the park continues to be a major draw for residents and visitors who enjoy splashing in the water or watching the colorful fountains—all in an accessible, clean, and safe way.

Currently, the city of Daytona Beach, Fla., is also moving forward with plans to revitalize its riverfront park just over the bridge from the world-famous beach. As part of a 22-acre transformation of the existing greenspace, the new park will feature event lawns, botanical gardens, and pond ecosystems, as well as focal fountains and a splash pad. The entire effort was driven by input from the community, designed to provide a destination for families and serve as a welcoming place for the public.

Over the past year, many parks professionals have no doubt felt the importance of making their outdoor park an inviting and safe public place for the community. And, while large gatherings have been reduced, that doesn’t mean it isn’t just as important to offer elements of placemaking that foster social [and socially distant] activity—from pedestrian rights-of-way to cleanliness and accessibility. Additions to a water feature can sometimes make the intangible impressions: making a place fun, welcoming, attractive, special, active, relaxing, and, most of all—engaging.

Here are some tips for integrating placemaking water features into a park:

1.     Ask the experts.

Be sure to bring on an aquatic-design consultant early in the planning process who can help avoid careless mistakes. For instance, your planning department is looking to add a water feature to a park, and then the staff decides that the feature should be interactive so children can splash in the water. That difference changes the fountain into a pool for certain health codes, which mandate the feature must be a specific distance from restrooms.

2.     Aim to engage with dynamic features.

Any type of water feature added to a park or public space will benefit the community. The calming noises and visual appeal naturally draw attention. However, in order to attract people—and keep them for longer periods of time to truly foster a community place—it’s important that a water feature is dynamic in nature. A still fountain with a single nozzle that shoots water in the air at a constant height won’t captivate attention for long. Using a pump that can vary its RPM and shoot water faster or slower to create different heights creates an engaging element that will capture passersby for longer as the water transforms and fluctuates. With the easy addition of color-changing LED lights, the water feature can activate public spaces well into the evening. For example, the large plaza in front of the Long Beach Performing Arts Center in California switched its fountain’s traditional stationary nozzles for a show-stopping spectacle, with dancing water-feature effects and brilliantly-colored lights—all choreographed to music. Its regular performances draw even more attention to the area known for its beautiful oceanfront promenades.

3.     Match the character of a park.

Adding a water feature shouldn’t drastically change the character of a park. If the public space is a quiet respite in a rural area known for spotting wildlife, a calming water feature will fit its atmosphere. For a space that already features a playground and is frequented by families, it might make sense to add a spray ground or interactive water feature. For the city of Eustis in Central Florida, the lakefront Ferran Park is an attraction for families, and the addition of a kid-friendly splash pad pays homage to the area’s affinity for boating. The nautically-themed vertical water elements include a tall sailboat mast and bow that stand in the center, while the surrounding water toys shaped like palm trees and cattails shower visitors from all sides.

4.     Consider the climate.

If your park is located where hot weather is short-lived, a splash pad-type feature may not be the best use of the park’s budget. Swap whimsical water toys for color-changing lights and special nozzle effects. They will still give families the ability to splash in the summer, while offering a dazzling show to attract passersby in the spring and fall seasons. For a project in the city of Broken Arrow, Okla., its centralized water feature in the downtown Rose District includes flush-mounted nozzles that don’t impede foot traffic. On colder days, the space plays host to a farmers’ market in the morning, and by evening the area draws crowds through its dazzling fountain display.

5.     Save greenspace—go vertical.

Dynamic and engaging water features are an incredibly powerful attraction for any community park. However, your aquatic consultant should not prioritize the square footage of a water feature to the detriment of the park’s greenspace. If plans for a large water feature impact the size of open areas or an event lawn, consider taking the water feature vertical. A well-designed water wall can still create the engagement you want for a gathering place without a large footprint. For instance, the master plan for a new park redevelopment in Salisbury, N.C., created an ingenious solution for integrating a large, vertical water feature. Adjacent to the new Bell Tower Green’s main-event lawn, a 15-foot-tall water wall will provide an aesthetically pleasing backdrop for the park, and offer a small space for interactive nozzles that spray from the ground in front of the wall. What’s more, the wall pulls double duty by cleverly disguising the back of the park’s restroom pavilion.

Josh Martin serves as President and Creative Director of Martin Aquatic Design & Engineering, an Orlando-based firm that has completed more than 2,500 projects in its nearly 35-year history. He is an expert on the topic of aquatic design and has presented to the United States Public Health Board on the subject of water safety as a consultant for the cruise industry. He can be reached at josh@martinaquatic.com.