Design Concepts
Pickleball Court Design: Maximizing Fun and ...

Pickleball is one of the hottest trends in recreation right now, and for good reason. It’s a welcoming sport that offers an abundance of fun. It’s known as a ‘game for everyone.’ Pickleball encourages physical activity to improve people’s fitness and wellness. As park designers, we see pickleball on the agenda for most of the park projects we work on.

Pickleball Court Design: Maximizing Fun and Functionality
Guest User
Erie Community Park: Third and Final Phase

This summer we celebrated the grand opening of the third and final phase of Erie Community Park. 12 acres of features were added to this park extending its value to the community. The park is consistently filled with people enjoying all it has to offer, and we could be more excited to see that enthusiasm.

Erie Community Park: Third and Final Phase
Design Concepts
Outdoor Classrooms: Now More Than Ever

This past year, schools all over the country were forced to allow fewer students inside and keep classes physically separate from each other, making their outside spaces a hot commodity. In many cases schools had to scramble to figure out ways to make this happen with little time to plan. We propose that to better equip schools for the future, more time, funding, and attention is needed to design these outdoor learning environments in ways students, teachers and the neighboring community can enjoy throughout the year.

Outdoor Classrooms: Now More Than Ever
Design Concepts
Two Hunters Park: A Tribute to Mark Martinez ...

Parks all around the world are known for igniting emotions of hope, peace, and optimism. Two Hunters Park, a commemorative park honoring the lives of Mark Martinez and Joey Irwin of Firestone, CO is no exception.

Two Hunters Park: A Tribute to Mark Martinez and Joey Irwin
Schools
Design Concepts
Helping Our Community Grow

We worked alongside these supporters for several years with continuing development on Lafayette Elementary’s garden as well as their three playgrounds. Recently, we began replacing raised flower beds in areas being reestablished.

Helping Our Community Grow

"projects"

, ,

A LEED Project: Westin Element Hotel

, ,
In keeping with our effort to diversify our portfolio we have recently taken on the landscape design of the 3000 sq. ft. courtyard at the Westin Element hotel currently under construction in Park Meadows. Not unlike other projects we have done, the landscape at the Element will be LEED certified with a water efficiency credit and a sustainable sites credit. We’re proud to be on board with the design of the first LEED certified hotel in Colorado. We were recommended for the project by YRG Sustainability (yrgconsultants.com), the LEED consultant for Casey Middle School—another DC design.

Todd from our office is the key designer for this project and is also a LEED Accredited Professional. While the design of urban gathering spaces such as this are a large portion of our portfolio, Todd notes that previous plazas and public gardens were usually on school campuses and within community parks. For this project Todd and others at the firm will incorporate hardscape shaded by native trees, planted vegetation, and some grass to create the three tiered plaza that will serve as the hotel’s courtyard, pool entryway, fire pit gathering area, and outdoor dining space.

Carol (one of the four principals here) and Todd intend to focus on Colorado climate-friendly vegetation in keeping with LEED’s principal of limiting water usage. This means using plants, trees, and flowers that are native to the area and therefore well accustomed to drought. Furthermore, the design will limit the use of thirsty grasses such as the popular Kentucky Bluegrass.

Congregating spaces are definitive of the community building designs that are the DC hallmark. The Festival Plazas in Winter Park and Louisville are great examples of this. The renovations of the Trumbo Plaza on CU’s campus are even more exemplary of how our designs of public spaces define and invite social gathering. This focus is continuing with Castle Rock’s Festival Plaza, another upcoming project that will challenge us to once again apply and expand our concept of design. Check back for an update on that project.

Visit Element Hotel’s website
,

New Website Feature: Virtual Arboretum

,
Check out our new Virtual Arboretum for the Louisville Community Park!

We’ve put together an interactive way for communities to learn more about the trees that live in their area. Park visitors can stop and take notice of the Imperial Honeylocust they pass en route to the playground or the English Oak that they have been resting under.

To use the VA, go to our website to download and print the Virtual Arboretum map and take it with you to the park. Orient yourself using the map and match the trees on the guide to those on the map. It is a fun and interactive way to experience the park and can be used by anyone – from families to seniors, and wildlife enthusiasts to school groups.
We started the Virtual Arboretum project to share our knowledge of the many neighborhood parks around Colorado with the communities that use them. Perhaps it will help instill a greater appreciation for the natural environment or allow users to impress their friends as they recite Quercus macrocarpa.

We invite you to give it a try and keep going back throughout the year. Please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

Design Concepts is an M/WBE, SBE Landscape Architecture design firm with the City and County of Denver and a DBE under the US Department of Transportation’s Colorado Unified Certification Program (UCP).