Creating a Competitive Edge – with a Coordinated Parks Graphic System –
Our park systems have a multitude of competitors vying for their user’s eye and attention. Between man-made destination water parks, to indoor digital driving ranges, to digital devices which encourage park users to look more at their phone than their surroundings, our parks and park systems are in need of attention.…
Long and linear, greenways are grassy or vegetated areas that can be created and cultivated or reclaimed and improved for public recreation use. Unlike a typical park, greenway trails are designed to get people somewhere, so they may connect parks, link communities or even create a regional or statewide network for non-motoroized transportation.…
Our 2015 Design Residency topic focused on “Urban Alchemy.” We wanted to identify how cities can combine existing and proposed urban elements and spin them into social, economic, and environmental gold. We engaged ten of the top collegiate students from across the Midwest in our design residency process, and challenged them to address a loosely-bounded district in downtown Des Moines near the riverfront that included 24-acres of proposed “re-invigoration” projects.…
Why is natural lighting such an important part of today’s design philosophy? How does natural light accentuate other design elements? How long has the emphasis on natural light been such a primary focus of architectural design, and have the appetites for daylighting from building owners changed over the years?…
Last year, RDG realized a remarkable shift in employee satisfaction, though the accomplishment was not achieved through salary adjustments or management policies. However, we did strategically enhance aspects of the physical office environment by using research-based assessment tools to measure occupant comfort, and then completed a small renovation project targeting the areas identified.…
“To measure is to know. If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” – Lord Kelvin. This same thinking can be applied to the built environment and the design process to attain maximum operation results.
The diagram below identifies the 4 steps to achieve high performance design and the goals associated with each step.…
Based upon a recent user survey conducted by RDG and Athletic Business magazine, the future as seen for collegiate rec indicates movement toward a technologically advanced but individualized campus recreation center experience. The years that separate a building’s initial planning and its completion make it imperative that owners and architects are accurately able to forcast for future trends” ..…
Jack Patton, director of RDG’s sports studio, explains how aquatic facilities are a huge growth area in College Recreation. Particularly leisure pools, with lazy river rides, slides, zip lines and climbing walls. A lot of students don’t want to swim laps, but a leisure pool is a great equalizer: I can get my toes wet, I can play, I can study, I can watch a movie, I can socialize.…
“Everybody keeps pushing the edges on student recreation building” says Al Oberlander, principal and COO at Des Moines, Iowa-based RDG Planning & Design. “Its ‘what can we do that will separate our building and how can it tell a story about what goes on inside?’” The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Outdoor Adventure Center makes it purpose apparent with a 41-foot-tall exterior climbing wall intend to resemble western Nebraska’s Chimney Rock National Historic Site.…
For years, it’s been known that the simple act of viewing or visiting a safe landscape is beneficial to our health. It’s why corporations value the “corner office” and why picture windows became a staple in our homes; viewing landscapes makes us feel better. …
