September 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 20

Community Center

design language that emanated from the
site - a Floyds Fork vernacular - " Florknacular. " Bringing a sense of orientation to such an expansive land area
is a system of ecologically responsive
trails and roadways that wind along
the watercourse. The kinetic shapes of
the pathways, plantings and buildings
reflect the fluid action of water. People
encounter and experience the creek by
" flowing " along the trails, " leaping "
over the bridges and " diving " through
the water. Into this sinuous system of
passages are inserted numerous trailheads and gathering spaces, along with
two geometrically contrasting features,
the Egg Lawn and the Grand Allée.

Plan by WRT

Materiality Defines Sense of Place
The design and materials reflect the natural and cultural heritage of the Kentucky bluegrass region, which creates
a distinctive local identity tuned to the
spirit of the place. Locally sourced limestone was used extensively throughout
the park in the iconic " Leaping bridges "
and dry-laid rock fences, but also in the
site benches, canoe launches and stonefines trails. The family of site structures
were constructed from ebony-stained cedar siding with yellow pine interiors that
recall the imagery of tobacco barns once
prevalent to the region, a few of which
are preserved throughout the park. The
Louisville Loop paving material reveals
the floodplain datum by using asphalt
outside and concrete inside the floodplain, forming a memorable white line
in the landscape paralleling the Fork.
Native plantings provide significant
habitat value and benefits to pollinators
and wildlife, while also improving water
quality through 7 miles of riparian buffer restoration.
Depiction of the four parks connected by a
collection of properties, called The Strand,
which make up The Parklands.
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The Parklands Experience
The Parklands was completed in April
2016 and, that year, visitor attendance
reached 2.6 million, making The Parklands one of the top 50 urban parks in the
nation - for 2017, visits to the park are
estimated to reach 4.0 million. The Parklands addresses a range of public health
concerns, such as nature-deficit disorder
with an ambitious programming and a
nature-based curriculum to engage students at the region's K-12 schools through
hands-on science and natural history
education - more than 14,000 students
in 2016 alone have already benefited
from the programming. The Parklands
addresses active lifestyle by providing a
broad range of physical fitness challenges that encourage cardiovascular health,
for people of all ages, including hiking/
biking trails, paddling trails, sports fields,
playgrounds/spray grounds and adventure sports hubs.
Agriculture is a part of The Parklands
experience and local farming creates a
positive connection between people and
land through community gardens, farmers
markets and the conversion of almost 400
acres to support sustainable agricultural.
The Parklands will preserve a vanishing
landscape and enhance nearly 80 percent
of the land for forestland and restored native meadows and wetlands. This creates
15 miles of urban habitat corridor with
improved water quality and stormwater
management, reduction of the urban heat
island effect, filtration of pollutants, carbon sequestration and habitat protection.
The Parklands demonstrates how parks
as green infrastructure provide multiple
benefits for the public, including transportation connectivity, flood mitigation, habitat protection, as well as physical health,
environmental education and cultural enrichment.
Charles B. Neer is the Senior Associate
Landscape Architect for WRT Design (cneer@
wrtdesign.com).

September 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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