Inspiration

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Site plans from the second community design meeting

February 26, 2010 in Designs, Inspiration, Solar power by Matt Hutchins | 1 comment

First off, I’d like to thank the all the community members that came to share their energy and ideas on Tuesday night.  As part of the design brainstorming session, we broke everyone into groups between 6 and 8 people and spend about 45 minutes generating different concepts.  I’ve scanned the site plans that each group presented, for the neighbors who couldn’t attend.  This participation is vital in developing a vision for the Sunset Substation and we will be taking these ideas and collaborating with the steering committee, our landscape architect, structural engineer and solar consultant to synthesize multiple options to present at the next workshop, Wednesday, March 24th at 6:30 pm.

Group 1:

The plan features a grape arbor running along the west edge over seating and game tables, gateways at either end, an artist’s cottage with kiln, rainwater cistern, a trade/share area for garden compost, a playground with a possible connection to the outdoor patio next door, connected together with a sinuous path.  The park would also be a wifi hotspot.

The solar installation would occupy the roof of the cottage.

Group 2:

This group focused on having a canopy superstructure that each panel would plug into with the idea that each module could be donated and as the canopy fills out they would form a large protected outdoor gathering  and play space.  The result would allow sunlight to filter through the panels.   They could even extend over the top of the neighboring restaurant to maximize the capacity but also then give curious pedestrians on 32nd an idea of the public space off the street (granted, this would require an agreement, cooperation and participation of the owner of the building on the corner).

A small two story structure would house a community studio and an artist/caretaker unit above.  At the high SW corner, the scheme has a tower with a view to the southeast.

Group 3:

This scheme has a perimeter of planting with with a seating area set into the hillside, around a playful water element.  The existing concrete slab would be integrated into a more organic pathway.  Perhaps a series of large stones could double as seating, or be hewn with honed, level tops to act as game tables.  At the southern edge of the site, a solar canopy would provide some weather protection and act as a dramatic gateway to the park off the alley (visible from the street).

Group 4:

Group 4 used the existing slab as the central community gathering space with outdoor fireplace, sheltered by the photovoltaic panels above. On the west, there is a lane for bocce or horseshoes.  On the east, a pathway winds through planting, with an artist designed play area.  One additional interesting aspect is that the storage building doubles as a emergency disaster center (using solar power to charge cell phones, etc) which would become a natural gathering point for the neighborhood in time of need.

As you can see, we covered a lot of ground in the workshop and if I missed any aspects to your groups design, or you just want to comment, post your thoughts!  Keep in mind, this is the very first visualization of the park, so it will change quite a bit as the design is refined and developed.

Vision Statement – First Draft

February 25, 2010 in Designs, Inspiration by Forrest Murphy | 3 comments

What is a Vision Statement and Why do We Need One?

Community projects such as the Sunset Substation can take a long time to bring to fruition. In that time, many things can change: the economic climate, the community members who are involved, potential sources of funding or the local political situation.

A Vision Statement is a concise statement of the project goals that is not tied to any specific design solution. Ideally, the result is  a useful tool in the face of shifting circumstances. The advantages potentially offered by some new proposal can be evaluated against these baseline values.

For example, the idea of renewable power generation has been part of this project from the earliest days. While this initially appears to have grown from an attempt to get Seattle City Light interested in participating, it has gained a momentum of its own. But is this a fundamental value of the project? Suppose a large source of funding came available to develop the open space, but was incompatible with power generation?

At the other end of the “certainty spectrum,” there seems to be consensus that any use that puts the property into private ownership would be incompatible with the community vision for the site. But if you don’t agree, we’d like to hear from you!

Draft Vision Statements

With that introduction, here are the draft vision statements that were presented at the meeting. (We have already heard some comments, but we’ll just put them up in the original form to keep from creating confusion)

  1. Public land should remain in public hands; vacant surplus City properties should become open space.
  2. Incorporate renewable energy technologies that allow power generation and public use to coexist, leveraging the site’s existing relationship with Seattle City Light.
  3. Space should be actively managed and maintained by the community that uses it.
  4. The project should contribute to meeting civic and regional goals for carbon emissions reduction.

We’d really like to hear from  you. Is there a major value that isn’t covered by one of these? Could one or all be re-phrased in a more concise way or to better capture the flavor of community feeling? See you in the comments section.