The crowds have gone. Two boys remain, launching themselves off a lifeguard stand into the cooling air, the beach theirs alone now. The wide beach opens under a summer sky gone nearly white at the horizon. The adults are gone and the boys have captured the stand. One boy is barefoot, watching the water with quiet contemplation and the authority of the new lifeguard on duty. Below him, his younger brother runs across the sand, arms flung wide in a joyful sprint that belongs only to children at the shore.
Their bodies are tired now and their minds are beginning to drift. The bleached waves continue to roll in. The jumping is less about excitement than about holding on to summer, stretching it a little further before it slips away.
The white chair towers over both of them, its geometry crisp against the soft dune light. In the distance, a green treeline and dune ridge traces the curve of the shore.
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.
A boy stands bare feet on the hot sand, waves crashing from a distance, he shields his eyes from the sun relentless beating down overhead. The wind is fierce, whipping up the sand stinging his eyes with a fine spray of grit. The landscape is beautiful and brutal, beckoning him to play while simultaneously showing its power. He stands trying to decide if he should jump in and take on the waves, or play it safe and dig in the warm sand.
Storage cabins stand prominently behind him, marching across the horizon line with the quiet authority of architecture. The vast pale sand below him contrasts the deep sky above him. He is small part of all of it, and completely at home, holding on to his childhood with endless energy and possibility.
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.
