21st Century Park
The design team at Field Operations was challenged to dream up the country’s ‘Smartest Park’ as part of the Parks for Downtown Dallas public-private partnership to build 4 new parks within 4 years. The design, nestled within Dallas’ historic West End (an up and coming tech district in the heart of downtown), includes not only sensors and gadgets and screens that we might name as ‘smart’ features, but also open space flexibility and maintenance considerations as crucial in the evolution of an urban park. The resulting design tucks a lush garden into a three-sided shade structure. The shade structure detailing adjusts according to adjacent use. For examples, the most public and trafficked side of the square includes hook ups for power and cable and increased structural loading capacity for temporary art installations while the residential side has rocking swings and doggie relief stations
On the residential side, ‘the ‘Porch’ features rocking swings and dog relief areas. On the side adjacent to a historic brick restaurant, the park features a 50’ long social table with chargers for phones and laptops, ping pong tables, and moveable chairs and tables. On busy Market Street, the Trellis is outfitted with hookups for rotating art installations and low profile amphitheater seating for performances and gatherings. The Corbin Street side facing a popular cafe is left open to allow for street closures for event spillover and pop ups such as holiday and food festivals.
Working closely with Parks for Downtown Dallas to ensure the design met all the aspirations of the stakeholders and would thrive season after season through Texas’ drastic climate changes, the park opened in 2020 and has been beloved ever since. Kate Rodgers was the project designer under principal Isabel Castilla and fellow associate Stephanie Ulrich. Kate was responsible for all visualization and the design and coordination of paving, planting and water feature as well as their technical specifications.
