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Conservation Community
PROJECT
Location: Outside Gainesville, FL
Program: Photoshop
“Unless we can define community so that it includes nature,
and unless we can define the natural environment so that is includes human
beings, we have only got a partial picture.” John Elder
The community was designed to combine the
preservation of open land, easy commuting by rail, and responsible development
practices. Every road has a stormwater collecting bio-swale and each village
cluster has a community rain garden. By tightly clustering housing lots
together, more natural habitat is able to be conserved and in turn becomes an
extended outdoor room and amenity for the entire community. It is an example of
how to plan our communities to enhance the environment and support a better way
of life.
The project highlights one
village in a cluster of conservation communities. The conceptual process went
through 5 scales of design: Master Plan, Village Plan, Lot Cluster, Individual
Lot and finally Individual Patio Plan. The Master Plan illustrates the layout
of the community, meeting the number of lots requested by the client and the
placement of the community meadow in relation to the lots. The Village Plan
details how each cluster relates to the interior rain garden and the natural
terrain conserved. The Lot Cluster relates each single family home to the
shared open space and its pedestrian path. The Individual Lot Plan demonstrates
each yard having a small, low maintenance with a native grass transition area
from the backyard to the conserved land. And the final scale examined was each
individual Patio Plan, placing a private outdoor living area. |
