Geoffrey Van de Riet Receives LEED® Green Associate Designation
Geoffrey Van de Riet of Planning Design Studio has received designation on behalf of the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) as a LEED® Green Associate. A LEED Professional Credential provides employers, policymakers, and other stakeholders with assurances of an individual’s level of competence and is the mark of the most qualified, educated, and influential green building professionals in the marketplace.
Planning Design Studio is committed to encouraging sustainable building practices that lead to environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work.
Alton Amphitheater Receives Regional Excellence Award by CNR
The PDS Design Team and the City of Alton have received an award from Saint Louis CNR. The Construction News and Real Estate May-June Magazine includes the results of their 2010 Regional Excellence Awards Program, which recognized the Alton Riverfront and Marina District Amphitheater as an award winning “Public Space”.
As stated in the design award submittal: “The Amphitheater and Fountain Plaza will become a regional destination venue for concerts, while serving the day to day recreation and gathering pursuits of the Alton community. People will bike, walk, drive and be delivered to this community gathering space. On event days, thousands of visitors will park in the downtown area, visit restaurants, bars and shops, before and after the main event. All this has started to positively improve the cultural and economic vitality of downtown Alton.”
Congratulations to the City, the contractors and our Design Consultants for their efforts in making the Alton Amphitheater a memorable outdoor space.
PDS A Sponsor at the Missouri Park & Recreation Annual Conference
Planning Design Studio was proud to be a sponsor and exhibitor at the 2010 Missouri Park and Recreation Association Annual Conference and Expo. Over 350 park and recreation professionals from around the state of Missouri gathered at this year’s conference, titled “The Prescription for a Healthy Community” at Tan-Tar-A Resort, Lake Ozark, Missouri. The conference featured over 120 exhibitors and nearly 60 educational sessions over a span of three days. It is the largest gathering of park and recreation professionals in the state.
Family Sports Park Receives Merit Award
Mayor Gary L. Graham and Planning Design Studio are pleased to announce that The St. Louis Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has awarded a Merit Award for the design and implementation of the Family Sports Park, O'Fallon, Illinois.
“It is a great honor to receive this award from the ASLA”, said Mayor Graham. "The Family Sports Park is a critical part of our growing park system and the third phase of development will benefit generations of O’Fallon residents in the future as well as bring enormous immediate impact to our community”.
This project was recognized as an outstanding comprehensive community effort in master planning and implementation of three project phases, resulting in eight tournament softball fields, two tournament soccer fields, two playgrounds, a water playground, concessions, pavilions, comfort stations, landscape plantings, two lakes, an entry water feature and a three mile trail and greenway system that encircles the 200 acre park. The current phase of development is expected to be completed in the fall of 2011.
O'Fallon, Missouri Wraps Up Its Park & Recreation Master Plan
On January 27, 2010, the city of O'Fallon, Missouri held its final public meeting to solicit input on its comprehensive park and recreation master plan. The plan, when completed, will outline the future of the city's parks and recreation programs for the next 10 to 15 years. It will address new park land acquisition, improvements to the community's nine existing parks, as well as strategies for linking them via a dedicated off-street trail system. Recommendations for future improvements to the current program offerings and ranger programs are also contained within the plan.
Planning Design Studio's New Intern
This week Planning Design Studio's new intern, Emily King, will begin her 28-week Landscape Architecture internship with the firm. Emily is from Brentwood, Missouri and is currently earning a Non-baccalaureate MLA degree from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. After completing the Planning Design Studio Internship Program this July, she will return to Manhattan for her fifth and final year of study. Planning Design Studio is excited to welcome another member to its staff, and to the St. Louis Landscape Architecture community at large. Good Luck, Emily!
Lions and Sugar Creek Ridge Pavilions Rededicated
The City of Kirkwood rededicated the historic Lions Pavilion and the new Sugar Creek Ridge Pavilion in Kirkwood Park after a nine-month renovation and rebuilding. The renovated 60 year old Lions Pavilion preserved the iconic stone columns that were part of the original building, converting the structure to an open air pavilion. Adjacent to this structure is the new Sugar Creek Ridge Pavilion, and a separate ADA-compliant comfort station. The total cost of the PDS designed project was just over $1.1 million dollars and paid for by the City’s dedicated 1/2 cent parks and recreation sales tax passed in 1998.
ASLA Design Award
Planning Design Studio has been honored with an Merit Award for design excellence from the St. Louis Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
The Merit Award recognized Planning Design Studio for its preparation of a city-wide Park Master Plan and the Design of current improvements to the City of Kirkwood's park system.
Laclede's Landing
Planning Design Studio has been commissioned by the Laclede's Landing Redevelopment Corporation (LLRC) to assist in implementation of Public Realm improvements for Laclede's Landing.
PDS assisted LLRC, METRO and the NPS Arch grounds personnel in the design and implementation of plantings along Washington Avenue from 3rd Street to Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard.
Monfort Park Dedication
The City of Kirkwood recently celebrated the completion and dedication of Monfort Park. The new neighborhood park is located on a former residential lot offering the surrounding community both a place of play and of respite. Planning Design Studio provided the design services lead and construction oversight for the project. Determined to maintain the wooded character of the site, Planning Design Studio went to extreme measures to protect the existing mature trees on site and incorporated the vegetation into the park design concept. Site amenities include a stone-clad pavilion, age-appropriate play equipment, as well as benches, trash receptacles and a drinking fountain.
River Des Peres Greenway Dedication
The Great Rivers Greenway (GRG), Mayor Slay, City Alderman Fred Heitert and other Members of the Community recently dedicated another built section of the River Des Peres Greenway in the City of Saint Louis. Planning Design Studio has provided the design services lead for all the improvements to the Greenway, having completed the planning, design and construction observation for 5 miles of the Greenway to date. Planning Design Studio is currently developing plans for the Greenway to extend all the way to the Mississippi River Greenway, then onto Jefferson Barracks County Park.
