Park and Facility Design

Introduction

Part of Dr. Kauffman’s academic preparation in the graduate area was in the area of park management. In addition, he taught a course in park and facility design which incorporated some of this content. He has had a continuing interest in “designing the experience” which is short for designing the park or resource area to deliver the desired experience. This is the common thread throughout the chapters of the text, and materials and videos presented on this page.

The theme of the book and materials is graphically depicted in the “Designing the Experience Model.” The model is found in the forward and is the underlying theme in Chapter 1 with the discussion of the two park benches, the campfire, and Disney World. The beauty of Disney World is the extent that Disney went to design the resource (i.e. park and facilities) along with the activities and programs within the park to deliver a desired experience. The primary focus of the materials presented here is to design the park and facility resources to deliver the desired experience.

The author has developed a series of YouTube videos that accompany the content found in the different chapters.

Updates:

• Updated sections and materials on this page are noted here:
• 11/2020 – This is the first draft of this page on this website.

Introduction

The introduction discusses the Designing the Experience Model on the left and the its continuing theme throughout the different chapters.

Ch 1: Designing the Experience

This textbook is about designing space to create the desired experience for participants. Conceptually, this text complements those texts focusing on recreation programming. Designing space to create an experience is a continuing thread that runs throughout this book. People design space and that space influences how they behave. The design of space creates an experience. This chapter starts with the two ubiquitous park benches and then discusses several additional case studies.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Two Park Benches – Designing the Experience. The park bench exercise demonstrates the importance of designing space to create an experience. This video uses the park bench as a metaphor for designing a park to deliver the desired experience. We shape our parks and they shape us.
• Behind the Scenes Tour of Disney World – Designing the Experience. Masterfully, the Magic Kingdom merges the park and facilities resources with the program and activities to create the desired experience. They raised ground level to the second floor which enabled them to have “utilidors” or tunnels and support services underneath main street and the Magic Kingdom. They created a “Neverland” where like Peter Pan the visitors need to travel to the Magic Kingdom. By controlling the visual zones, they successfully created a world unto itself.
• Corridor of Death – Subtle Management Techniques Can Affect the Experience. When “designing the experience,” subtle management techniques can significantly affect the experience. This is a story about a college student class who took a wrong turn in the Everglades and the instructor used the subtle management tool of pruning the mangroves to determine that the group had finally reached the Nightmare Trail. Subtle management practices do affect the experience.

Ch 2: Spatial Determinants of Behavior and Systems

Parks and facilities are examples of fixed-feature space (e.g. immovable objects such as buildings and parks). However, the design of fixed-feature space is predicated on informal (distance between people) and semi-fixed feature space (furniture, chairs and desks). Understanding spatial determinants of behavior is fundamental to designing parks. Also, understanding systems is important to being able to break parks down into understandable and manageable subsystems. This chapter provides a primer on both topics.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• There are currently no videos associated with this chapter.

Ch 3: Playgrounds and the Play Movement

This chapter begins with a discussion of Huizinga’s principles of play. It discusses the play movement which began in 1886 with the Boston Sands Garden and culminated with the Outdoor Resources Review Commission (ORRRC) Report in 1964. It is important that players can manipulate elements in their play environment to create their play experience.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Children’s Garden, Denver Botanical Gardens – A Tale of Two Playgrounds. This video contrasts two different play areas or playgrounds in the Children’s Garden to emphasize the need for people to be able to manipulate elements in their environment to create the desired experience.
• The ORRRC Report – Recreation & Park’s Movement “Day in the Sun”. The ORRRC Report was the culminating event of the 80 to 100 year old recreation movement. It was published in 1964.

Ch 4: Principles and Philosophy

This chapter discusses some underlying principles and philosophy associated with designing the experience. One important point for future park planners is that the lands nobody wanted often become some of the most valuable park assets.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• The Lands Nobody Wanted – The White Mountains. The lands nobody wanted often become valuable park lands. This is the case study of the White Mountains in New Hampshire.
• The Lands Nobody Wanted – Rails-to-Trails. The Rails-to-Trails program is a classic example of converting the lands that nobody wanted into valuable linear parks.
• The Lands Nobody Wanted – Recycling Two San Antonio Quarries. In San Antonio, Texas, this case study is about two abandoned quarries that were converted into the Japanese Sunken Gardens and the Quarry Golf Course, both valuable park resources.
• The Lands Nobody Wanted – Yellowstone National Park. Because of its isolation, Yellowstone became the lands overlooked for commercial development.

Ch 5: English Landscape Movement

This chapter discusses the English landscape school of thought. Then it contrasts other schools of thought with an emphasis on the more classical schools associated with their geometric designs.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• There are currently no videos associated with this chapter.

Ch 6: Theme, Amusement, and Zoological Parks

Often overlooked in the development of the parks movement are theme, amusement, and zoological parks. However, they have much in common
with the traditional park movement and there is considerable overlap. This chapter examines this commonality.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Big Cat Falls Interpretive Trail. The Big Cat Falls interpretive trail at the Philadelphia Zoo provides a unique experience. It creates a journey. In designing the experience, the trail utilizes the concept of sequencing to provide changing views and experiences.

Ch 7: Principles of Shape and Form

This chapter presents the basic principles used in visual management and in the design of landscapes. It provides the fundamental concepts of how people organize space to provide coherence and clarity for the
viewer.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Visual Management – Foreground, Middle Ground, and Background Characteristics. Viewscapes vary with distance and is commonly divided into the foreground, middle ground, and background. The purpose of this video is to show these changes and secondly, how this knowledge can be use by outdoor recreationists to navigate and orient themselves in the outdoors.

Ch 8: Principles of Organizing Space

This chapter discusses the principles of organizing space including the outdoor room, sequencing, visual zones, and scenic corridors.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Outdoor Rooms – Designing space with walls, ceiling, and a floor. In “designing the experience,” the Outdoor Room demonstrates that outdoor spaces can be designed as if they were a room with a floor, walls, and ceiling. The video uses a small vest pocket park in Charlotte, North Carolina to demonstrate the walls, ceiling, and floor of the outdoor room.
• Sequencing – Using Physical and Visual Barriers to Create a Series of Views. On paths and trails, sequencing is the use of physical and visual barriers or the lack thereof to open or close the sides and top to create a variety of experiences.
• Big Cat Falls Interpretive Trail. The Big Cat Falls interpretive trail at the Philadelphia Zoo provides a unique experience. It creates a journey. In designing the experience, the trail utilizes the concept of sequencing to provide changing views and experiences.

Ch 9: Visual Management Techniques

The visual experience can be managed to create the experience. This chapter discusses to methods used to manage the visual experience. These are the USFS VIS (Visual Information System) and the Antietam Overlay District.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Managing the Antietam Battlefield Viewshed – Using Scenic Easements and Zoning. This video introduces the use of scenic easements and zoning overlays to help protect the historic character of the viewshed surrounding Antietam National Battlefield.

Ch 10: Carrying Capacity and The Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS)

In managing the experience, the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum, has become the mainstay for managing the outdoor experience. Also, it becomes the limiting factor of over development. [Chapter 10 is currently under review.]

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Tragedy of the Commons and Bessy’s Story. In park management, the “Tragedy of the Commons” is foundational to carrying capacity and the need for park management. The video is a primer on the tragedy of the commons.

Ch 11: Circulation, Transitioning, and Barriers

In designing the experience, this chapter explores the concepts of facilitation circulation, transitioning into the experience, and the use of visual and physical barriers to mold the experience.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Using Physical and Visual Barriers to Design the Experience. Physical and visual barriers are used to design the experience by directing movement and by determining what is seen and what isn’t seen.

Ch 12: Trails

This chapter focuses on the planning process and philosophy behind trails.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• The Lands Nobody Wanted – Rails-to-Trails. The Rails-to-Trails program is a classic example of converting the lands that nobody wanted into valuable linear parks.

Ch 13: Trail Construction Techniques

This chapter discusses basic trail construction techniques. Emphasis is on outdoor trails.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Trail Sign Placement Techniques. Trail sign placement can be categorized by critical junction, equal distance, line of sight, trail width, and combinations of the above.
• Owl Trail – A Sensory Awareness Rope Trail. Sensory awareness rope trails were popular in the 1970s. This video revisits the concept with ideas and suggestions for their construction. Partially completed in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Owl Trail is used as the example.

Ch 14: Historic Preservation

Many recreation and parks departments. are given historic sites. Using the Secretary of Interior’s four classifications (i.e. preservation, reconstruction, rehabilitation, and restoration), this chapter discusses the basic principles of historic preservation. Historic sites and quasi-historic sites can bleed a budget dry.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Historical Preservation: Chelsae – History Best Forgotten. There can be problems associated with recreation and parks departments receiving historical properties. Chelsae is an example of history best forgotten because tobacco farms are associated with slavery and the largely black community in Upper Marlboro would just as soon not be reminded of the past history. The farm is historical significance because it documents the history of the region. In addition, the farm is located on parkland at its original site which adds to its value for historic preservation. The video provides a case study of Chelsae. It can stimulate a discussion on what should be done with Chelsae. Should it be utilized? If so, how? Or should it best be forgotten?
• Historic Preservation: Friendship Bridge – History without Historical Significance. Just because it is old, it doesn’t mean that it is historically significance. Built in 1955, the Friendship Bridge or the “old Gandy Bridge” is a 2.6 mile long bridge across Tampa Bay. In 1997, the bridge was replaced with a new bridge. From a historic preservation standpoint, the Friendship bridge does not historic significance. It is not representative of the growth and development of an area, not did a significant event occur at the facility. Second, historic sites can easily drain budgets and financial resources. …. The video provides a case study. It can stimulate a discussion on whether friends groups are always beneficial? Is it historically significant? Could there be a positive cost/benefit?
• Historic Preservation: Patapsco Female Institute – Creating a Revenue Stream.The Patapsco Female Institute represents the cultural heritage of Ellicott City, Maryland. It is representative of the “rehabilitation” historic preservation technique where the facility is adapted into new uses that provides a revenue stream to offset its costs. …. Do you feel that it is appropriate to use historical facilities for alternative uses such as weddings and special events? Other than weddings, how could this resource be used to create a revenue stream? There was an effort to reconstruct the Institute but they fell short. Give reasons why it should be reconstructed or not reconstructed? Which period would you depict? … without the chapel and dormers, with the chapel but without the dormers, or with both the chapel and dormers. Justify your response in terms of the Institute’s historical significance.

Ch 15: Vandalism and Depreciative Behaviors

Although vandalism can be costly and destructive, this chapter takes a slightly different approach. Play involves manipulation of elements within the environment. Parks need to provide similar opportunities and some forms of vandalism are really the need of participants to manipulate elements within the play environment.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• There are currently no videos associated with this chapter.

Ch 16: Design with Nature (Sustainable Designs)

Sustainable designs are the current version of designing with nature. This chapter examines the concept of designing with nature.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• There are currently no videos associated with this chapter.

Ch 17: Master Planning

Using Brookside Gardens as the primary example, this chapter presents the master planning process. It introduces the Master Planning Model.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Master Planning. This YouTube video provides an overview of the master planning process. It introduces the Master Planning Model. The video uses Brookside Gardens as a case study and it follows the chapter pretty closely.

Ch 18: Site Design Process

As a continuation of the master planning process discussed in the previous chapter, this chapter uses the development of the entrance at Brookside Gardens as the primary example to discuss the site design process. The chapter introduces the Site Design Process Model.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• Site Planning Process. This YouTube video provides an overview of the site planning process based on the Site Planning Process Model. The video uses Brookside Gardens as a case study and it follows the chapter pretty closely.

Ch 19: Facility Design

This chapter breaks down facility design and construction into its different subsystems. Also, the chapter uses the nature center at Brookside Gardens to illustrate the 30/60/90% completion.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• There are currently no videos associated with this chapter.

Ch 20: Facility – Construction Process

Using the Construction Process Model, this chapter cover the five construction stages or phases (i.e. research, design, bidding, construction and occupancy). For the practitioner working with the architect, the research and design phases are the two most important phases since this is where the practitioner’s expertise will be tapped to help insure that the building delivers the desired program and experience.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• There are currently no videos associated with this chapter.

Ch 21: Designing Urban Environments as Parks

Urban environments can be designed to create similar experiences to those found in nature. This chapter presents some examples regarding how this can be accomplished.

• SUPPLEMENTAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS
• There are currently no videos associated with this chapter.