August 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 41

Architectural shade was added
around the legacy banyan trees at the
Scottsdale (Arizona) Civic Center.
shade creation and cooling value
in an urban desert environment
and must be acknowledged and
integrated into the new design concept
wherever possible. Any design
choice should consider the location,
longevity and maintenance requirements
of existing trees, balancing
their benefits with succession planning.
This process typically includes
not just planting new trees, but also
diversifying species with consideration
for their expected longevity.
The Scottsdale Civic Center Park
redevelopment included two inherited
large banyan trees in the center
of the park. The goal of preserving
and enhancing the shade impact
of these trees became a key design
feature. To that end, the design envisioned
a 360-degree shade structure
circling the trees, which expanded
the shade to create a centrally located
community gathering place.
Half living, half mechanical, it is an
island of shade that allowed the design
team to program the space with
performance infrastructure.
Keep It Cool
Given the imperative to ensure an
urban desert park remains usable
as much of the year as possible, we
must look at all possible opportunities
to create the proper microclimates
for different activities at different
points in the day - whether
that's play areas or a yoga lawn.
While numerous factors contribute
to cooling ground plane - from
mulch types to pavement colors
and permeability versus impermeability
- we will touch on turf
use, as it is often associated with
creating large open programmable
space in these urban park settings.
While live turf provides significant
benefits in urban heat island mitigation,
the maintenance aspect and
water requirements have municipalities
rethinking the extents of its use.
Artificial turf is a low-water-use alternative,
but it still necessitates some
water usage for cleaning and cooling
purposes. It also can become incredibly
hot and contribute to the urban
heat island problem (not to mention
the environmental consideration of
per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
[PFAS]). As a result, we must factor
in the cost of adding shade to ensure
artificial turf remains usable.
Once again, the solution is often
a combination of surface materials.
At Scottsdale Civic Center, we limited
the turf areas to specific areas
for programming - everything else
is low-water-use landscape. The design
achieved a total reduction of
half the turf area that was previously
onsite, equating to a savings of almost
6 million gallons of water per
year. The design team strategically
used artificial turf in areas where
maintenance of live turf would be a
challenge and where folding tables
and chairs would be moved in and
out on a regular basis.
Balance Year Three With
Year 30
Working with nature teaches you
to plan for the future. As landscape
architects, we're always planning
for what a site will look like on day
one and how it will fill in, change
and grow over decades.
Here in the desert, that future planning
is even more crucial as we're
acutely aware of the risks of a warming
world on an already challenging
landscape. Every decision we make
must account for long-term impacts,
water availability and maintenance
constraints. We're no longer thinking
about design as one-and-done. We're
looking at more comprehensive, successive
planting plans that consider
the growth and development of a site
over time and best equip our clients
with the tools they'll need to ensure
the landscape thrives long term.
Ultimately, the most important
thing we can do as designers and
communities
is
ful,
to be resourcecreative
and holistic in our
approach. By reframing the conversation
about water, shade and
resource use on a site in a more
comprehensive way, we can create
landscapes that are both functional
and beautiful, that both respond to
our environment and allow for intense
programming. Looking at all
the options in our toolkit, there is
opportunity for all the systems and
design features in an urban desert
environment to work together -
now and for years to come.
Brandon Sobiech, PLA, ASLA, is Principal and Co-Founder of
Dig Studio (brandon@digstudio.com).
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | A UGUS T 2 0 2 3
| Parks & Recreation
41
PHOTO COURTESY OF WILLMENG CONSTRUCTION
August 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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