Park Design With Maintenance In Mind

Even good projects need adjustments along the way

By Brenda Iraola
Images: Land Design & Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

Park designs should be unique, and should also provide amazing experiences for people to enjoy. This is what designers want to achieve when they begin a project. The park-design process can include obtaining funding, gathering ideas, connecting with the community, and understanding site solutions. As a licensed landscape architect and a professional for almost 30 years, I would like to share some insight about designing public park spaces and lessons learned.

As a design and construction manager for the Landscape Architecture Section of the Park Development Division for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, I am responsible for millions of dollars of capital-improvement funds for park projects. My five staff members are all licensed landscape architects, are very talented, and have many years of experience with park design. The following is a look at a project, that despite its success, required adjustments along the way.

Fairwood Park Design Concept (Site History)

In the late 1700s, the land proposed for the Fairwood Community Park comprised several farms and three main estate homes—Fairwood, Fairview, and the deClairmont. The design of the park is a modern twist on the architecture of the colonial era and mimics the formal fashion and estate-like appearance of the homes that once graced the property. The park’s layout incorporated design cues from great American estate manors: Monticello, Mount Vernon, and the Paca House. One organizational element of the design is the central axis that runs north and south on the site, which connects the park elements. The main access to the park serves as a “history walk,” which provides interpretive, educational signage to explain the site’s history.

Park Funding And Escalation Factors

In general, the division’s park projects are funded within a 6-year Capital Improvement Program cycle and strategy. The fiscal-year programming helps determine when a project can be funded, when a design can begin, and when construction can finish. Sometimes, due to a shortage of staff resources, a project may not start as planned. Therefore, it is critical to provide additional costs for these delays, such as escalation factors. Each year a project remains on hold, the financial funding should allocate escalation costs (approximately a 3 to 5 percent increase). If escalation fees are not provided, a low park budget and some park recreation-design elements may need to be reduced to meet the budget. This process is known as value engineering.

Site Facility Design and Function

The Fairwood Community Park concept included multiple design features;

• Playground design and tree grove

• Soccer field recreation and drainage

• Parking lot and rain garden.

Descriptions of these features are listed below with some lessons learned from each:

• Playground Design And Tree Grove

Due to the site’s history as a farm, the designer and consultant decided to provide several rows of trees within the play space to emulate an orchard. This would not only provide shade, but was meant to serve as a uniform, aesthetic look. While the idea looked great on paper, it was not practical due to the children’s ability to climb the trees, which became damaged quickly until only a few remained. It would have been better to provide taller trees with higher limbs to avoid contact by the children.

• Soccer Field Recreation And Drainage

Since the park property was once a turf farm, the design included an open-play field and two soccer fields to represent the park’s history (and meet the needs of neighborhood and county recreation). The site was graded level for both soccer fields. However, after the park was built, it became apparent there were drainage issues. A soccer field is very long, which makes it difficult to get positive drainage. In this design, the two fields were adjacent, which expanded the length of the drainage area needed. This became a problem, which had to be resolved with additional underdrainage.

• Parking Lot And Rain Garden

Green initiatives were a major driver of the park design. A formal walk continues into the parking area through an interpretive rain garden (see concept-design images). The rain-garden design within the parking lot had 16 inlet curb cuts. This sustainable approach allows water to infiltrate into the garden at multiple locations. However, it wasn’t as effective as was planned. Instead, the site’s drainage pattern flow became concentrated in only two areas of the inlet locations. The result was high erosion in the two inlets, and the site had to be renovated.

The Fairwood Community Park design was a successful project, even with the site issues that needed to be addressed during and after construction. Most park projects need adjustments after they are built because drawings cannot always represent a park’s natural site features. Including professional landscape architects and engineers is critical in providing creative solutions for amazing park spaces and public enjoyment.

Brenda J. Iraola, ASLA, PLA, CPSI, COAA, NRPA, MRPA, is a Landscape Architecture Supervisor for the Park Planning & Development Division of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. Reach her at brenda.iraola@pgparks.com.

--------------------------------------

Sidebar

Team Players

Park Project: Fairwood Community Park—The Heritage Park, M-NCPPC
Organization: The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), Department of Parks and Recreation, Prince George’s County
Design and Construction Manager: Brenda Iraola, ASLA, RLA, M-NCPPC
Project Landscape Architect: Jeff Newhouse, RLA, M-NCPPC
Consultants: Land Design