VODA Landscape + Planning

VODA’s been involved with an exciting new project, one of Salt Lake City’s future Great Places, the Sugar House Streetcar Greenway.  Many groups, municipalities, and organizations have been working for years to see this project come about, and everyone’s excited to see the project finally under construction.  We’ve been working with the great design team at CRSA to develop documents for the construction of the greenway space along the new streetcar, which will also be home to Parley’s Trail, connecting major recreational facilities such as the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, Sugar House Park, and the Jordan River Parkway.

 

The Streetcar Greenway will be home to Parley’s Trail, the Sugar House Streetcar line, community gardens, and many public spaces that will bring vibrancy and energy to the neighborhoods along the corridor.

Additionally, VODA’s been working with a group of University of Utah students to develop sustainability education features along the greenway corridor. The students have spent the last school year working on the initial concepts for “The Green Line: A Sustainability Corridor.”  The Green Line would brand the entire corridor of the streetcar as a sustainable place, with individual installations demonstrating various aspects of sustainability, including energy sustainability, food sustainability, transportation sustainability, and environmental sensitivity.  With a strong Sustainability brand, the Green Line can influence development throughout the neighborhoods along the corridor, encouraging more efficient and sustainable building patterns.

Last night the Salt Lake City Council approved $6.8 million in funding for the greenway element of the Streetcar Corridor.  With construction on the streetcar finally underway, we could see the park and streetcar operational as soon as 2013.

VODA worked with the Artspace organization and Wasatch Community Gardens to help craft a new community garden in downtown Salt Lake City. VODA applauds any effort to improve the neighborhood, and to build a stronger sense of community in our city.  As landscape architects, we support programs that will educate the wider population of the city on issues of land stewardship, environmental sustainability, food security, and quality public spaces. This project was a prototype for future community gardens to be sponsored at Artspace’s other properties in the downtown area. VODA helped to facilitate public meetings, design, and cost estimation.

VODA’s been working recently with a grassroots group of citizens determined to turn a community eyesore into a community asset.  With a highly visible corner of Sugar House occupied by long-unused tennis courts, this group is planning to create the Sugar House Community Garden on the space once occupied by the Fairmont Park Tennis Courts.

Read more about this project »

In June 2010, a Chevron pipeline running through the foothills above Salt Lake City began leaking raw crude oil into Red Butte Creek. The spill lasted only a few hours, but dumped an estimated 30,000 gallons of oil into a creek running through residential areas, public parks, and natural areas.  VODA was hired by Carbaugh & Associates and the city of Salt Lake to assist in facilitating public meetings that would determine what actions the city could take to prevent future spills, and how to deal with similar accidents in the future.

Read more about this project »

Working on a team with Fehr and Peers, Design Workshop designed improvements along Salt Lake City’s East Capitol Boulevard. East Capitol Boulevard currently has no marked parking and no crosswalks for pedestrian safety – yet it is the main location of parking for visitors to the capitol, especially during the legislative session.
Salt Lake City Corporation recognized the lack of cohesive design on this important stretch of road and hired Design Workshop’s team to design safety and traffic calming improvements for the road and design elements of the Utah State Capitol Campus Master Plan which are still incomplete. The master plan, developed by the Capitol Preservation Board, lists several goals and objectives for East Capitol Boulevard that include: respond to the critical issues of traffic patterns on and around the Capitol Campus; recognize the need for traffic calming on streets surrounding the Capitol Campus and provide solutions that reduce surface parking and provide for 1200 cars minimum.

With these objectives in mind Design Workshop began by aligning the goals and objectives of Salt Lake City with those of the Capitol Preservation Board, and developed a site analysis and conceptual design that realized these goals and established opportunities for connecting the Capitol to the greater community. The plan creates and integrates trails, and creates connections to the adjacent and historically significant Memory Grove Park with a historic interpretive plaza overlooking the park and more visible connections to the park. In addition, the proposed design achieves the goal of turning East Capitol Boulevard into a more pedestrian friendly environment, through the integration of landscaped medians that serve to calm traffic and directing pedestrians to controlled street crossings.

Previous project experience of Melanie Schmidt (Voda) while working for Design Workshop

A fast growth rate and natural barriers have caused division within the boundaries of Eagle Mountain City and a lack of open space and park amenities sufficient for its population and demographics.  Design Workshop produced an overall long-term master plan for the city’s parks and open space.
Read more about this project »

As part of the design of the Amaranth New Community, Design Workshop was retained to design the parks and open space system that will tie the community together. The sytem is distributed througout the entire community, with everyone in the diverse population having proximity to trails, open space and parks of various sizes.
Included in the open space are a variety of types of facilities from preserved open space lands to a large 29.5 acre soccer complex.
In addition to providing adequate opportunity for residents to be outside, recreate and join together as a community, the system is also very sustainable. Native or natively adapted plants were used to conserve water use, and the stormwater runoff is contained within the parks system to allow the water to percoalte into the groundwater and be filtered naturally.
The entire system works together as a whole, providing the residents a unique and beautiful place to live.
Previous project experience of Melanie Schmidt (Voda) while working for Design Workshop

Working on a team at CRSA, VODA has worked with Nibley City staff and elected officials on two projects. In 2008 we were involved in the General Plan Update process for Nibley City.  We facilitated several public meetings, hearings, and input sessions. The team collected information from the Nibley City Planning Commission, City Council, and the general public.

Read more about this project »

Working on a team at CRSA, Mark Morris of VODA worked with officials in Rexburg, Idaho to update their Comprehensive Plan document.  The team held regular update meetings with local stakeholders, including the city council and planning commission, in order to thoroughly understand the major issues that the city is facing.  The new document will aid local leaders in guiding growth and development in appropriate areas and in appropriate forms.

Read more about this project »