Reverend Patrick Cabello Hansel started Centro Nueva Creacion to capture and support the good in West Kensington, popularly known as the Badlands. The center plans to create an inviting, environmentally sustainable outdoor space for the community... a Haven in the Goodlands. more
Founded in 1994, Centro Nueva Creacion (New Creation Community Center) operates after-school and summer enrichment programs for kids, parenting workshops, and environmental and art classes out of New Creation Lutheran Church and an adjacent parking lot. Reverend Hansel asked the Community Design Collaborative to develop a conceptual plan to turn its asphalt lot into a safe, beautiful place to play, learn, and host community events.
Costs played a big part in the design decisions made by the volunteer design team. "The hardest thing in the world is to make good design happen cheaply," observes Richard Roark, lead volunteer, "but we wanted Centro to be able to do the project." This was a challenge for Roark and many members of the team, who typically work on large-scale projects with far larger budgets.
The team kept the asphalt; parts of the site will still provide off-street parking and places to play basketball and tee-ball. Centro needs a shade pavilion to qualify as a licensed after-school program. "Trees take a long time to become established and a shade structure was too expensive. So we tried to come up with something between landscaping and architecture. Our concept was to establish shade through trellising that mimics trees," says Roark. Wisteria was chosen as the plant material because it is quick-growing and hardy enough to survive surrounded by asphalt. "The trellis we designed is basically a Sono tube with flat bars on top. Reverend Hansel actually has had some experience growing grapes on trellises a nice serendipity," Roark notes.
The design team also explored ways to screen the parking from the street. They came up with several affordable, but arresting alternatives transparent acrylic panels, interlocking aluminum posts over chain link, and acrylic plates over a chain link.
A rain garden is part of the conceptual design. According to Roark, the rain garden was a response to an existing site condition, "The drains in the lot were backed up. It was almost like nature was saying 'Hold on, wait a minute, I need time to recharge!' The blocked drains were sort of like de facto detention ponds, so we turned the tables and made the drainage problem into a site benefit." The rain garden was also a tangible way to express the environmental stewardship Centro already practices, he adds. "The great thing about Centro is that they have a really community-oriented, with a broad definition of community. Their program includes environmental education classes and they are a member of the Tacony Frankford Watershed Association."
Centro Nueva Creacion Volunteer Team:
Richard Roark
Scott Dismukes
Erin McLaughlin
Steffi Shueppel
Vasiliki Tsiouma
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