In May 2012, the Collaborative's Transforming Urban Schoolyards design charrette invited designers, students, teachers, and parents from Kelly Elementary School in Germantown and Lea Elementary School in West Philadelphia to collaborate on strategies for greening schoolyards.
Last November, our Urban Remix design charrette brought designers and stakeholders together to brainstorm sustainability improvements for the 46th Street Station area, a fast-growing health and human services district that will also be future home of the Philadelphia Police Department.
Now, the ideas and relationships resulting from these charrettes are beginning to bear fruit in West Philadelphia.
Greening Lea The West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools (WPCN) has received a PECO Green Region matching grant of a $10,000 to green Lea's playground, located at 47th and Spruce Streets.
This grant program, administered by the Natural Lands Trust, encourages open space preservation, improvements to parks and recreation resources and environmental conservation. The PECO Green Region matching grant requires a dollar-for-dollar match, and will ultimately leverage $20,000 in investments.
WPCN used the greening strategy developed during the Transforming Urban Schoolyards design charrette and refined in a follow-up report by the Collaborative to apply for the PECO grant.
The compelling ideas that resulted from the charrette--new streets to reconnect superblocks north of Market Street, a linear park at the SEPTA Station to capture stormwater and welcome transit users, and a greener streetscape for Farrugut Street that ties neighborhoods to the north and south of the El together--will provide the framework for the city and the community as they enhance the public realm around the 46th Street Station Area.
Last November, our Urban Remix design charrette brought designers and stakeholders together to brainstorm sustainability improvements for the 46th Street Station area, a fast-growing health and human services district that will also be future home of the Philadelphia Police Department.
Now, the ideas and relationships resulting from these charrettes are beginning to bear fruit in West Philadelphia.
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
Greening Lea The West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools (WPCN) has received a PECO Green Region matching grant of a $10,000 to green Lea's playground, located at 47th and Spruce Streets.
This grant program, administered by the Natural Lands Trust, encourages open space preservation, improvements to parks and recreation resources and environmental conservation. The PECO Green Region matching grant requires a dollar-for-dollar match, and will ultimately leverage $20,000 in investments.
WPCN used the greening strategy developed during the Transforming Urban Schoolyards design charrette and refined in a follow-up report by the Collaborative to apply for the PECO grant.
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
46th Street Station Area
The insights, ideas, and sketches from the Urban Remix design charrette were combined to create a conceptual master plan for the blocks surrounding the 46th Street Station. Recommendations and renderings from that plan have been incorporated into the Philadelphia City Planning Commission's new University Southwest District Plan.The compelling ideas that resulted from the charrette--new streets to reconnect superblocks north of Market Street, a linear park at the SEPTA Station to capture stormwater and welcome transit users, and a greener streetscape for Farrugut Street that ties neighborhoods to the north and south of the El together--will provide the framework for the city and the community as they enhance the public realm around the 46th Street Station Area.
