Winter Park has been longknown for skiing and sledding, but the new amphitheater makes it a premier summer destination for Colorado. Anchored by the stage, the park is expanded and upgraded with beauitfully landscaped grounds.
When Design Becomes Brand
Hideaway Park: A 4-Season Bowl of Concert, Festival and Outdoor Entertainment
Rain won’t delay Inspiration Playground!
Construction started last year on Inspiration Playground in Bellevue, Washington...then it started to rain and never stopped!
Annual rain in the Seattle area is around 37 inches. (That already seems like a lot since our hometown in Lafayette, Colorado averages just 15.8 inches per year). But, since last October, over 45.9 inches of record rain has come down over in the Seattle area. That’s almost 4 FEET of rain! The Seattle Times called nailed it when they said “Enough Already!”
That’s a lot of water to deal with for a construction project. No matter, the willpower and dedication to the making of Inspiration Playground has kept construction rolling and plans for opening are set for this summer.
Designing for Water
Speaking of water . . . knowing there’s going to be a lot of rain, ‘”managing water” is an important design feature. Minimal use of sod is planned to minimize maintenance impact of saturated lawns. Heavily planted rain gardens throughout the site will collect and provide natural water quality purification. And a well-designed stormwater run-off system will move water along off the playground site.
Rainy-Day Play
“I learned early on in my parenting career that there’s no need to stay inside on a wet day,” said Linnea Westerlind, author of Discovering Seattle Parks, who created a best-of list of the “The Best Rainy-Day Parks and Playgrounds.” Inspiration Playground will fit right in with these rain-friendly, puddle-jumping fun spots that Seattle area children enjoy.
At 5,130 Feet, Another New School in Erie is Underway
Last year we celebrated the groundbreaking for a new K8 school in Erie, Colorado for Boulder Valley School District. This year, we’re celebrating the groundbreaking for another new PK8 school for St. Vrain School District. This is a fast growing community and the competing school districts are busting at the seams to keep up with the influx of students.
Construction for the new PK-8 school started this spring with planned opening in fall 2018. The school location offers spectacular views of Longs Peak and the Indian Peaks.
Design of the school frames views towards Longs Peak. A specially designed “Surprise Area” offers a place for outdoor gathering inside a large quarter-circle plaza surrounded by a grass berm and shade trees.
Etched plaques representing the highest peaks on each continent will be embedded in the multi-colored decorative concrete plaza including:
- Aconcagua – 22,841 feet
- Denali – 20,310 feet
- Elbrus – 18,510 feet
- Everest – 29,029 feet
- Gunnbjorn Fjeld – 12,119 feet
- Puncak Jaya – 16,024 feet
- Kilimanjaro – 19,341 feet
- Kosciuszko – 7,310 feet
- Longs Peak – 14,259 feet
- Vinson Massif – 16,050 feet
- Mont Blanc – 15,774 feet
- Orizaba – 18,491 feet
And at the center of the plaza, the school’s elevation in Erie is included at 5,130 feet. Other site features include a tree-lined front entrance plaza with sandstone seating and gathering spaces, raised garden beds, a synthetic turf berm in the PK-K play area, and a stabilized-aggregate track and multipurpose field.
