COMMUNITIES MATTER!
A good design process includes Community voices throughout the project cycle.
We, as designers, design built environments for the communities. Therefore, we should take the lead in creating a platform for communities to express their needs for the community space, resulting in fostering creative placemaking.
Research: Through an extensive Community engagement session, we co-created a sustainable decision making tool for the local businesses of Arizona in partnership with the Local First Arizona, to evaluate the sustainability of their business and make necessary actions.
The tool was used by the designer, property manager, and, business owner to understand the gaps, and create a phase plan for the recommendations. The result is highlighted in this diagram.
Capstone project: The tool built in 2022 was used on this commercial property in Tempe, and an evaluation matrix was created to look at the impact of the solutions on environment, social and economic factors of the business.
example of the recommendation table.
x-section through the retention basin.
Site Plan 2030: Construction could begin in phases, starting with the removal of grass, adding plant islands in the parking wherever necessary, planting the trees (they take time to grow), and replacing non-native plants with low-water-use native plants.
Site Plan 2040: Includes removing asphalt for concrete pavers, completing the upper floors (to be done in phases: one block at a time and a bridge in the end), and adding a garage to meet the increasing needs of the growing business.