Harmony Place, a 7,000 sf plaza, is designed with the intent to invigorate and transform Brattleboro Vermont’s downtown into an even more thriving destination. Currently in the fundraising stage, the project is slated and will begin construction in the spring of 2017.
The site is located adjacent to the newly restored Brooks House, a four-story historic brick building on Main Street in downtown Brattleboro, VT. The plaza is the capstone needed to complete this adaptive reuse and urban revitalization project.
Harmony Place is envisioned as a pedestrian friendly gathering place, a social hub for lunch or coffee, a shaded urban oasis, and a campus quad for college students. The space includes a specially designed steel structure integrated into the stage design that provides support for circus arts, a vertical garden, a movie screen, and acoustic panels. Raised planters will feature native species, providing green space, shade and wildlife habitat. Pervious surfaces will allow on-site stormwater infiltration. A creative lighting design will make Harmony Place festive and safe, and includes a light sculpture attached to the roof of the entrance tunnel. Festivals, markets and food trucks will enliven the area and special events will bring residents and visitors downtown.
Harmony Place will celebrate Brattleboro’s urbanism as well as it's rural nature in this pedestrian-focused enclave. In the heart of downtown Brattleboro, the plaza is lined with businesses and establishments and flanked by two active streetscapes. The front door to both The Community College of Vermont and Vermont Technical College will open onto Harmony Place, as will the doorway to Brooks House apartments and businesses. Opposite the Brooks House, independently owned businesses will benefit from this attractive uplift, and the comings and goings of this revitalized area.
The Brattleboro Retreat, a mental health and addiction care facility located in Brattleboro, Vermont, approached Stevens & Associates with the need for an outdoor courtyard space for their high-risk patients. The over arching goal of the project was to provide a safe, secure and inviting environment to the patients and the staff. Stevens & Associates provided planning and landscape architecture services for the requested courtyard, as well as an overall master plan for the campus that ties together the various outdoor areas.
As the first addition to the masterplan, the Tyler Courtyard is situated with access from the cafeteria, supplying two areas of outdoor seating for the patients and the employees while enclosing a sizable space with a secure, traditional brick and iron wall. Located away from the central green space of the campus to maintain the classical appearance of the historic architecture, the courtyard provides various spaces for patients to gather, meet one-on-one in the shade, take a stroll or work on the raised vegetable garden beds. Approximately 20,600 square feet of impervious asphalt was removed to create this green space.
The campus masterplan includes the addition of a total of three connected courtyards, and a chiders playground for on-site childcare. Pedestrian safety and circulation is a high priority of the campus design, with the addition of traffic calming elements, approximately 1,700 linear feet of pedestrian walkways, and handicapped accessibility throughout.
Building Wherewithal sought out Stevens & Associates to prepare a feasibility study and masterplan for the Retreat Farm, a 19th century working farm in Brattleboro, Vermont. Located on 32 acres in a pivotal location at the edge of downtown along the banks of the West River, it is part of a larger network of forested and agricultural lands totaling approximately 400 acres. These lands represent many important cultural and natural characteristics; ranging from historic buildings, important wildlife habitat, active recreational assets and valuable agricultural resources.
The primary goal of the study was to investigate the potential adaptive reuse and renovation of the extensive complex of approximately 50,000 square feet of agricultural buildings and structures. The mixture of uses includes retail, restaurants, maker spaces, office space, classrooms, and museum. A secondary goal was to study the reorganization of pedestrian and vehicular access to the farm, as well as the addition of parking. The mission that developed as part of this master plan is, ‘to preserve the Retreat Farm’s historic, culturally and environmentally significant lands and buildings while advancing a healthier, more resourceful greater Brattleboro community.
The master plan provides a recreation destination to local residents of Windham County, enhancing public health and appreciation for Vermont’s natural and agricultural landscape. A secondary benefit of the master plan is the creation of a tourist destination for travelers seeking the “Vermont experience”, creating jobs in Brattleboro and boosting the local economy. This plan exemplifies the strength of historic buildings and supports the worth of preserving them for future generations.
Stevens & Associates provided planning and conceptual design services for the proposed traditional neighborhood development (TND) on Round Lake Road in Ballston, NY. The masterplan is representative of creating a meaningful public realm.
In the tradition of TND, the homes in the Round Lake Road community are oriented toward streets and open spaces. For the multi- and single-family homes, and townhouses, parking occurs on streets and in garages located in the rear of the homes and sometimes on an alley. Parking lots are included for larger buildings, including apartments and live/work units. Highlights of the plan include traffic calming and increased walkability, common open green space and access to natural areas, and meaningful public spaces. A small amount of commercial space would house a daycare, retail, and office space in addition to the live/work units provided.
The Brattleboro Museum and Arts Center (BMAC) is exploring the possibility of growing and evolving into a regional presence, with expanded outreach into the community. Stevens & Associates provided master planning and architecture services to explore the feasibility of the BMAC to expand their current facilities. The intent of the plan is to invigorate and transform Brattleboro Vermont’s downtown into an even more thriving arts destination.
Phase One of the plan proposes building onto their existing, historic museum, adding a new gallery space, an events and classroom space, two new lobby entrances on either side of the museum, and and interior sculpture courtyard.
Phase Two of the plan involves acquiring a near-by neglected property that sits on the opposite side of the Whetstone Brook. A foot bridge will be built to provide pedestrian access across the brook. On the property site a vacant, boarded-up historic industrial building. The ideas for the building include expanding its footprint as well as BMAC’s operations by offering more gallery and performance space; setting up classrooms for art activities; and developing an artist residency program.
Keene Housing, a public housing authority in Keene, NH, hired Stevens & Associates for Landscape Architecture and Engineering services for new site design at their Harper Acres multi-family and senior housing apartments. The project involves a streetscape design, and improving the public realm for the tenants of Harper Acres.
Project Highlights:
- Installing and directing stormwater to three large curbside rain gardens to catch and infiltrate stormwater.
- Overflow area drains that direct water to vegetated swales during larger storm events.
- Reduction of deteriorating impervious pavements and replacement with pervious pavements and increased lawn space to increase infiltration and reduce stormwater runoff.
- Improved grading and surface drainage throughout the site, and replacing existing the failing underground drainage system.
- Reorganizing and increasing access and circulation throughout the site with new sidewalks and enhanced parking.
- New outdoor gathering spaces for tenants to congregate and socialize.
- Improvements to the existing landscape with native plantings and curbside rain gardens.
The New England Youth Theatre hired Stevens & Associates for Landscape Architecture and Engineering services for their brownfield remediation project. Located on the Whetstone Brook in downtown Brattleboro, VT, the theatre is located on an old industrial site where hazardous waste is a major issue. The project is a positive example of brownfield and infill redevelopment, in urban downtown Brattleboro.
Phase One of the project involved excavating their existing parking area and entrance to a depth of four feet, capping the site, bringing in four feet of clean fill, and redesigning the site to fit their needs. The redesign included reorganizing and increasing their parking count, installing a more prominent entry walk with ornamental lighting and gardens, and providing a front lawn for summer programming activities with the students.
Phase Two of the project, currently underway, involves demolishing a decrepit building adjacent to the theatre, seen in the photos to the left, remediating the hazardous waste, and building an outdoor performance space for summer programming. The space has been designed not only as an outdoor amphitheater, but will also act as an outdoor classroom, surrounded by two-story brick walls on three sides, tiered seating, and various nooks that provide shade and passive seating for small gatherings. It was also designed with enough room for a temporary tent to be used for fundraising events, and a temporary stage for performances.
After a lightning strike ignited a fast moving 5-alarm fire, which leveled the entire school building, the Rowe Elementary School hired Stevens & Associates to provide site design, structural engineering, and environmental permitting services for a new building. Located on a hilltop overlooking Pelham Lake in the Berkshires, the elementary school takes advantage of the natural views and full southern exposure ideal for solar.
The site design includes student drop-off areas for buses and cars, reorganized parking, a redeveloped playground area, and safe walking routes for students. The existing drainage and the on-site septic system were assessed, and a stormwater management system was developed addressing issues with the finished grade for the athletic fields located near a high water table.
Stevens & Associates has a strong partnership with the Windham and Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT), providing landscape architecture and engineering services to their many multi-family housing sites throughout southern Vermont.
WWHT multi-family housing projects provide an excellent example of how landscape architects and engineers create meaningful public places through expertise in a range of skills including; site design, landscape design, permitting, stormwater management and utility design. Stevens & Associates is able to use expertise in landscape architecture, site engineering and environmental design to make these projects an economic success and enliven southern Vermont communities. Providing much-needed quality affordable housing to the Southern Vermont community demonstrate the designer's ability to put technical know-how to work for social concerns, providing livable streets, emphasis on pedestrian access, and pleasant outdoor spaces for families.
Common challenges presented at the project sites include:
• Designing low maintenance landscapes
• Brownfield cleanup
• Steep slopes requiring a creative grading concepts to maintain effective drainage and offer handicap accessibility
• Improving parking and pedestrian circulation to provide ADA accessibility
• Improving stormwater drainage
• Historic preservation and restoration is a common challenge given that Vermont has the oldest stock of housing in the United States
In addition to providing landscape design and graphic design to Stevens & Associates, Tom produced architectural renderings, including perspectives, elevation drawings, and floor plans, for a variety of projects.
