sustainABLEhouse Under Construction

Learn more about sustainABLEhouse, and our work in Dallas and the RGV.

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bcWORKSHOP is engaging in design processes to build several sustainABLEhouses in two diverse settings: Cameron County in the Rio Grande Valley and the Dolphin Heights neighborhood in Dallas.  Given the highly adaptable process of sustainABLEhouse, each setting provides a unique exploration of how the WORKSHOP can collaborate with partner families to design and build healthy, affordable homes.

Cameron County, Texas

  • In partnership with CDCB through their Colonia Redevelopment Program, eight families are engaging in the design and construction process across four different neighborhoods.
  • Each home conforms to basic design standards set forth by the Colonia Redevelopment Program and further shaped by input of the future residents through five meetings and ‘homework’ assignments.
  • The four homes average 864 square feet and accommodate an average family size of 2.5 people.
  • Construction is scheduled to begin in January 2013.

Dolphin Heights, Dallas, TX

  • This home serves as the 1st application of the initiative in the Dolphin Heights neighborhood.
  • Extensive community involvement and educational activities ensure that neighborhood voices are heard and contribute to the design.
  • This home, designed to meet rigorous energy standards, is 850 square feet and includes 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, large porch space, and the ability to expand the house in the future.
  • Construction is expected to be complete in December 2012 and we are currently seeking a homeowner partner. Contact us at 214.252.2900 for more details.

TEDx SMU + TEDx Kids

Learn more about POP Dallas.

On November 30 and December 1, 2012, bcWORKSHOP was invited to participate in the TEDxKids @ SMU (a special TED event for local middle school students) and TEDxSMU conferences to showcase our POP [People Organizing Place] Dallas initiative. Now in its fourth year, TEDxSMU brought a multitude of creative thinkers to the City Performance Hall in the Arts District to share and discover innovative ideas in technology, entertainment and design.

Following the conference's theme of re:TH!NK, over 400 attendees on both days shared their ideas for re-thinking the neighborhoods where they live, learn, work and play through activity cards, video interviews and good old-fashioned conversation. During the day, bcWORKSHOP created a compilation of Neighborhood Stories collected throughout the conference as well as a map of representing attendees' neighborhoods, which was screened at the end of the conference.

Conference participants were eager to share ideas for their own neighborhoods and absorb the ideas shared by others from around the city. With the POP City Map as a guide, attendees left armed with a strengthened understanding and commitment to place-making in Dallas.

La Bajada Stories

Learn more about Neighborhood Stories and POP Dallas.

The event celebrated this century-old Mexican American neighborhood.
The event celebrated this century-old Mexican American neighborhood.

View more photos of the event on our Facebook page.

On the evening of  November 17th, the first exhibit was held in La Bajada, a residential neighborhood dating back to the 1930s just west of Downtown Dallas. La Bajada's story was told through an exhibit of the events that shaped the neighborhood and a short film that featured interviews with neighborhood residents: Pete Martinez, Anita Martinez, Gloria Lopez, Ysidro Huerta, Sr. and Ysidro Huerta, Jr., John Zapata Gonzalez, and Felix Lozada. Guests had opportunities to contribute their own personal stories and memories about the neighborhood through recorded interviews and enjoyed tacos, tamales, and pastries from Taquería La Chilanga and La Estrella Bakery. By far the most popular activity was sledding down the slopes of the Trinity River levees, a common neighborhood recreation first enjoyed more than 60 years ago.

Neighborhood Stories: La Bajada was presented with the assistance of the Dallas Mexican American Historical League and the West Dallas Community Centers.

Casitas Foundations 101

Learn more about La Hacienda Casitas and our work in the RGV.

By Emily Axtman

Phase 1 of La Hacienda Casitas is underway! Site work has been going on for a few months now and the streets are beginning to take shape, as seen below. Up until now, the site progress has been horizontal: dirt has been moved around and wet/dry infrastructure has been installed. Although I've seen some pretty high mounds of dirt, nothing as vertical or as exciting as a house has started...until now!

Thus far, a total of 8 foundations have been poured. So what has been involved in this process?

Standing at the northwest street corner facing the building pad of the first 10 houses.

Standing at the northwest street corner facing the building pad of the first 10 houses.

Preparing the site:

In order to prep the site for the foundations, the Phase 1 area was first cleared 3', seen again in the photo above.

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Preparing the pad:

(1) Due to soil instability in the Valley, 3' of select fill was required under each unit to ensure proper density and compaction ability. Select fill is used when native soils are not capable of adequately bearing the weight of the structure that will be built in that location.

(2) The select fill was then compacted in 6" deep increments, referred to as lifts. This process further ensures proper density and compaction.

(3) Once the fill was tested and the form-work constructed, a trencher was used to cut out the foundation lines. At this point, it looked like this:

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I know what you're thinking. This photo looks the same as the last picture! If you look more closely you'll notice the built-up select fill and the beginning of the form-work.

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Preparing the foundation:

The the select fill is piled high from the trenching while perimeters of the foundation are edged with form-work. After the form-work and trenching are complete, plumbing for the kitchen, bathroom, and utilities is roughed in. A plastic vapor barrier is then laid over the padding, tucked into the trenches and then stapled to the form-work. It is very important that the concrete be cast in a dry protected barrier and kept away from the soil. Continuous exposure to water and moisture can cause cracking in the concrete, leading to structural instability.

The rebar is assembled in stages onsite and set into the trenches first, then laid in a grid pattern on top of the padding. Because concrete has low tensile strength, reinforcement must be used that is high in tensile strength, such as steel rebar. Chairs, the dots in yellow above, are used to raise the rebar 2-3" above the padding. This ensures that the concrete will adhere to the rebar properly and surround it evenly. Once the rebar is inspected, it's time for the fun part... CONCRETE!

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The concrete is spread evenly over the padding and into the trenches, then vibrated at the form-work edges to help the aggregate settle and release any air pockets.

Concrete is a composite material made up of an aggregate (such as stone), cement and water. When water is mixed with the dry aggregate and cement, a chemical process called hydration occurs, enabling the mixture to be molded and formed before hardening.

The timing and craft of pouring the foundation is key to the accuracy of the houses. Speaking to one of the foremen on-site, he said, "Pouring the foundations is the most stressful part of the process. Once we pour, it's final; so everything has to be right."

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Once the concrete has been distributed evenly, it's roughly smoothed using a screed. As the larger aggregate begins to settle, a bull float is used to smooth the top layer of the finer aggregate. To complete the process, edge and finish trowels are used to refine the concrete surfaces.

As I learned at 5:30am in the morning, pouring concrete is an early event. In order for the concrete to set, the air temperature can't be too hot or too cold. If the temperature is below 50 degrees, the hydration process slows down; if too hot, hydration occurs too fast, causing differential temperatures in the concrete that can lead to cracking, as well as compromising the final strength of the concrete. Due to the Valley's high temperatures, it's important to start as early as possible to beat the heat.

Prior to any foundation pours, a sample is taken from the concrete trucks and tested later to verify the strength and composition of the mixture. According to the tester, the foundations will cure enough in about 3 days to start framing. Fully cured concrete takes about 21 days.

Denton Neighborhood Empowerment Summit

Learn more about POP Dallas.

On October 27, 2012, bcWORKSHOP supported the City of Denton Neighborhood Planning Program's efforts to provide residents with tools to affect positive change in their neighborhoods by engaging them with the POP [People Organizing Place] Dallas Toolkit at the fourth annual Neighborhood Empowerment Summit.

Local advocates first learned about the Toolkit as a common language that guides people in understanding their physical and social environments, as well as provides them with tools to position themselves as effective advocates for change.  Next, the participants had to critically reflect on what they had done and were already doing in their neighborhood, allowing them to develop an informed strategy for advancing their interests.

The Toolkit requires active engagement, so bcWORKSHOP challenged participants to critically reflect on their daily behavior through several high-energy activities.  They were first given cards on which they wrote stories of what they have done in their communities related to a specific tool, and shared these stories in small groups.  In the same groups, they collectively chose one tool for a reflection exercise.  Group members were responsible for dissecting the story using the Toolkit’s four-step process by identifying the scale, naming the method used, and evaluating the tool's success.  The exercise generated productive dialogue, as groups discussed other tools that could be more effective and how their relationship with the physical environment influenced their actions.

To emphasize that sharing ideas and stories is an integral part of the Toolkit, bcW concluded the session by having each group not only present their discussion, but also defend the reasons their tool was appropriate for discovering, sharing, or making.

Neighborhood Stories - Arts District

Learn more about POP Dallas and Neighborhood Stories.

On October 27-28, 2012, bcWORKSHOP was a part of a monumental project for Dallas: the grand opening of Klyde Warren Park. The celebration commemorated an innovative park that decks over a portion of Woodall Rodgers Freeway, providing valuable new civic space and connecting Uptown and the Dallas Arts District.

bcWORKSHOP had a substantial presence at the park opening, engaging visitors on Harwood Street around our POP [People Organizing Place] Dallas initiative as they passed between the new park and the Arts District. The centerpiece was a Dallas Neighborhood Stories exhibit inside our 45’ retrofitted shipping container that examined the evolution of today’s Arts District from its origins as the juncture of the Freedman’s Town/North Dallas, Little Mexico, and Ross Avenue neighborhoods, and how major interventions - the construction of Central Expressway, the construction of Woodall Rodgers Freeway, and the master plan for the Arts District - affected physical and social change.

The POP City Map also made an appearance; more than 200 people marked their Dallas neighborhoods, with dozens more showing their pride in places from Irving and Lancaster to Brazil and France. Finally, hundreds of revelers shared pictures and stories about where they live on the container itself and on camera in the Story House.

The weekend affirmed how strongly people identify and connect with their neighborhoods as well as the importance of understanding the decisions and actions that have shaped our city over time. We had a great time at the opening and look forward to bringing our exhibit back to the Arts District soon!

A Designer's Paradise?

Learn more about La Hacienda and our work in the RGV.

By Emily Axtman

So what is bcWORKSHOP working on in the Valley besides La Hacienda Casitas?

The short answer: a lot.

To give some perspective about architecture practices in the Valley:

The city of Dallas, at a population of about 1.2 million, has 301 professional architecture practices according to the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) 2011 data. The city of Brownsville, at a population of 178,500, has 5 professional architecture practices.

Dallas averages 1 architecture firm for every 3,300 people. Brownsville averages 1 architect firm for every 35,600 people. So what's the big deal? Dallas has 10 times the capacity of people working towards providing better housing, public spaces and development within the city. Brownsville is in need of a greater design capacity and this is where bcWORKSHOP comes in.

Maggie Winter, a bcWORKSHOP designer, has been working toward implementing improvements for the quality of life in the LRGV since September 2011. Her projects have ranged from city-wide planning to housing and broader community development.

Justin Tirsun, a former VISTA at bcW, has been a part of the LRGV team since July 2012. Justin's main focus in the Valley has been policy research and development in the Colonias, as well as the Belden Trail. Among all of the projects, I have had the opportunity to work on the Alegria House.

Alegria House, front elevation.

Alegria House, front elevation.

bcWORKSHOP has been working with Ms. Alegria to design a new home for her and her 3 children. The Alegrias currently live in a mobile home without running water or electricity. Recently, Ms. Alegria's son was paralyzed in an accident, making accessibility part of their housing needs. Working within CDCB's Colonia Redevelopment Program, bcWORKSHOP has designed a home that will meet their needs and provide a healthy living environment. Construction is slated to begin in November!

The Colonia Redevelopment Program is a reconstruction & rehabilitation service for homeowners in Colonias currently living in homes that are not meeting their basic needs. Based on the sustainABLEhouse model,  bcW is teaming up with CDCB to offer a custom design service to the program. This opportunity directly involves the homeowners in the design and construction of their new home while remaining within the parameters of the Colonia Redevelopment Program. The bcW LRGV office is currently working with 4 families to design homes that will accommodate their needs, be energy efficient, and provide healthy living environments. We are thrilled to be working so closely with all of these families!

So now back to that OTHER housing project. What's going on with La Hacienda?! I'm excited to bring the news that the La Hacienda site has been under construction for 4 weeks now. With the infrastructural work underway (eg: water, sewer and fire lines; site-drainage and street layout) the first 8 homes will be under construction in the next couple weeks. The foundations have been staked and completion of these units is scheduled for mid-January. Stay tuned over these next few weeks: the houses are on their way!

La Hacienda site on 10/1/2012 facing east from Paloma Ln. 

La Hacienda site on 10/1/2012 facing east from Paloma Ln. 

BigBang! 2012

Learn more about POP Dallas and Neighborhood Stories.

bcWORKSHOP provided a variety of activities concerning Dallas neighborhoods at the 2012 bigBANG!, organized by Dallas Social Venture Partners. Located in Union Station, this day-long forum convened the thinkers and doers of the city for an opportunity to catalyze positive impact. Many components of the POP Dallas initiative were engaged by event participants, including the POP City Map which allowed attendees to identify and mark their neighborhoods. The Story House also made its debut, and new interviews were collected inside of it in collaboration with educational nonprofit Commit!, an organization dedicated to realizing children's full potential. Fifteen different neighborhoods were represented with 30 new recorded interviews. Next door, bcFELLOWs led two high-energy work sessions utilizing the POP Toolkit, empowering participants to think about the changes they can affect in their own communities.

Cliff Temple Community Garden

Learn more about our Making work in Dallas.

From 2011 to 2012, bcWORKSHOP partnered with Cliff Temple Baptist Church in North Oak Cliff to improve their community garden, making the garden more functional as well as more habitable for social events and gatherings. bcW was approached by Wes Keyes, the church’s Minister of Missions, for design input on facilities to make the garden more usable and secure.

The Cliff Temple Community Garden was established three years ago, and serves as a part of The Well Ministry, a faith based community group that supports those with severe mental illness. Many members of the Well work a number of plots in the garden and directly contribute to the Goslin Opportunity Center and food pantry of the church.  Other plots are tended by gardeners from the Cliff Temple congregation and other local community members.

From September to November 2011, through a number of garden workdays, meetings, and surveys, bcWORKSHOP and garden users documented activities that took place in the garden, identified and prioritized needs to better accommodate these and other desired activities. Specific needs included a toolshed to help organize and secure their tools, a bathroom facility to allow gardeners and guests to spend more time in the garden, and a social space to allow more frequent gatherings and events.

In order to take advantage of the existing natural elements of the site, and to minimize cost, it was proposed to make a number of small interventions in the garden to create nodes of storage and activity that the users could organize around.

Building began in February 2012. A toolshed was constructed and installed in the garden in March. A social space was designed to include: three shade sails to augment the shade from existing trees and shield the social space from rain; a large community table, constructed to form a center piece for the space; and donated limestone assembled into a dry-stacked wall, to allow for seating around the table. These elements were completed in June. The remaining construction is focused on a shed structure which will house a self-contained composting toilet.

With a combination of volunteer labor from the garden and bcWORKSHOP, build-days have been held on multiple Saturdays. Groups of gardeners and bcW volunteers have worked through extreme weather conditions, from mid-30 degree temperatures with high winds to days of over 100 degrees. Rain has also plagued the construction schedule with delays. However, through much hard work, the project will be completed by the end of 2012.

Significant progress was made toward completing the remaining construction in October 2012. As the project reaches this stage of completion, bcWORKSHOP is transitioning from designer and leader of construction efforts, to support for the maintenance and future garden enhancements.

The Cottages at Hickory Crossing

Learn more about The Cottages.

Positioned at the gateway to downtown Dallas, The Cottages at Hickory Crossing will provide an innovative union of permanent housing and support services for the fifty most chronic cases of homelessness in Dallas. The integration of thoughtful design and robust services become a comprehensive approach to address the many challenges faced by residents. To best understand the needs of future residents and service providers, the pre-design process included a combination of research, focus group charrettes, and comprehensive engagement of stakeholders in the decision-making process.

The Cottages at Hickory Crossing design re-imagines traditional models by abandoning compartmentalized forms for a composition of separate but linked structures. Design components include:

  • Common green and a series of courtyards: provide flexible space for activities and neighbor interaction. 
  • Fifty, 430- square-foot cottage residences: encourage stronger personal identity; locally pre-fabricated.
  • 4,000-square-foot support-services building: a series of small buildings under one “porch” roof, encouraging frequent resident use and reducing operational costs by centralizing resources.

The project serves as a model for sustainable urban living by maximizing open space, incorporating on-site solar energy technologies, and integrating rainwater collection. While also producing a durable return on investment, these green strategies and activities create a supportive, healthy, and inviting environment. Preliminary modeling anticipates a LEED Platinum rating.

Project partners include: CitySquare, Central Dallas Community Development Corporation, Metrocare Services, Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance, Dallas County Criminal Justice System, UT Southwestern Medical Center, and initial funding provided by the W.W. Caruth Jr. Foundation at Communities Foundation of Texas.

For information on funding or other opportunities, please contact Shawn Wills, Chief Development Officer at CitySquare.

In September 2012, the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects honored the project with an Unbuilt Design Award.

The Parklet

Learn more about our work in Dallas.

Surrounded by freeways, the skyline of downtown Dallas rises from a sea of concrete and asphalt. Public parks lie scattered across this landscape, accounting for less than five percent of the urban geography. In opposition, downtown over-accommodates a perceived lack of parking by dedicating twenty-seven percent of surface to vehicular storage. The disproportion between these two landscapes has created an opportunity to rebalance the relationship between the pedestrian and the vehicle; this opportunity is the parklet.

The parklet is a type of urban space that supplements people’s access to places for rest and social interaction. Inserted into the gaps in-between downtown’s sanctioned parks, it creates new public space where once only a vehicle could reside. It extends the sidewalk as space is carved from conventional parking, reclaiming the street from the automobile for the pedestrian. An outgrowth of the PARK(ing) Day movement, the art and design studio Rebar pioneered the first parklet in San Francisco. Since then, the idea has spread to other cities such as Chicago and Los Angeles.

The parklet is both temporal and permanent, dynamic yet anchored. Designed as a set of components, the parklet can be deployed on any street, bringing vibrancy to the sidewalk and the block, and then moved to facilitate activity elsewhere. The individual pieces can be disassembled and moved via truck or trailer, then joined together again in a new location.

The parklet creates the amenities of the city at a fine scale: it is shelter from the sun, a café, a garden, a, bench, a storefront, the chance encounter. When it is deployed, the parklet is open to all no matter where it is. While the space is intimate, different furniture types can be added and rearranged to change the program of the parklet. Benches are worked into the design of the mobile planters, bringing visitors closer to the fragrant herbs and flowers growing from the natural cedar beds.

Developed in partnership with Downtown Dallas, Incorporated, Dallas's first parklet made its initial appearance on PARK(ing) Day 2012 in front of bcWORKSHOP's office on South Ervay. The parklet will continue to appear there and elsewhere around downtown's parking spaces, serving the public wherever it goes.

Park(ing) Day 2012

Learn more about our work in Dallas, and our Neighborhood Stories initiative as part of POP Dallas.

PARK(ing) Day is an international one-day celebration of people re-purposing parking for other activities not centered on the car. For Dallas's second annual PARK(ing) Day, we brought our 20-foot long commissary container over to the one of the parking spaces along downtown Main Street. Inside the container, we displayed the POP City Map along with a map locating green spaces in Downtown Dallas. A small theater was set up for projecting our collected Neighborhood Stories, while we also recorded new ones them from passersby on the street. Outside, visitors played board games and placed notes on the exterior of the container sharing what they love about Downtown.

Down the road on South Ervay, we also set up Dallas's first Parklet in front of our office. Created in partnership with Downtown Dallas, Incorporated, the parklet carries the spirit of PARK(ing) Day by making the transformation from vehicle parking to pedestrian space more permanent.

La Hacienda Casitas

Learn more about La Hacienda Casitas and our work in the RGV.

By Emily Axtman

Founded on the need for safe, clean and affordable housing for families in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, the Community Development Corporation of Brownsville (CDCB) has been working with the residents of Cameron County since 1974. Their mission is to "assist low income families in attaining home ownership" and they've achieved this over the past five decades by providing more than 2,500 built homes. CDCB additionally provides home-buyer education and credit counseling, youth and job training, and colonia redevelopment, among other programs. They are the largest non-profit producer of single family affordable housing for home-ownership in the State of Texas.

bcWORKSHOP's Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) team works alongside CDCB staff in their office in downtown Brownsville at 901 E. Levee Street. Current projects include:

  • Colonias Planning Project (Sept. 2011-present) - Grassroots efforts to build a planning framework and platform for rural communities to self-organize and address both localized and regional community development issues including insufficient infrastructure, home repairs, safety, and public health concerns.
  • Belden Trail (July 2012-present) - Community engagement and design for an urban 1-mile hike and bike trail that will run through West Brownsville.
  • Alegria House (August 2012-present) - Consultation and design of a small home that, in partnership with CDCB, will provide a family of 3 with a much needed fully-accessible house.
  • Self-Help and Colonia Home Design (July 2012-present) - Design services are now being offered for families that qualify with CDCB for a new home and who wish to participate in the design choices available for their new home.
  • Better Block Brownsville (May 2012-present) - A monthly Saturday event that demonstrates what a "better block" can be in Brownsville including bike/pedestrian-friendly streets, outdoor cafes and shade, local vendors and music.
  • La Hacienda Casitas (Feb. 2011-present) - The largest collaboration between CDCB and bcW to design CDCB's first multi-family housing development.
CDCB's office in downtown Brownsville

CDCB's office in downtown Brownsville

So how did La Hacienda Casitas get started?

I sat down with Mark Moseley, Manager of Special Programs and Initiatives at CDCB to ask him this question along with a few others. But first, let's get to know Mark!

La Hacienda Site Plan - The site design is focused on using a high-density housing model integrated with low-impact design. Covering just under 6 acres, the site design was informed by preserving as many existing trees as possible and centers around a long spine of central green space that provides community amenities including a meeting hall, barbeque pavilion and laundry facility. Through the integration of storm-water management (bio-swales and bio-retentions ponds) with native landscaping (native grasses, wildflowers and site-informed walking paths) a more cohesive and self-sustaining environment will be created for all residents and users.

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Mark Moseley, Manager of  Multifamily Programs, has over 20 years of experience working in the community development field. Prior to joining CDCB, Mark was the Executive Director of Tri-County HDC in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mark has completed nearly $45 million in multi-family projects utilizing Low Income Housing Tax Credits, USDA 514/516 (farmworker housing), HUD 202/811 (housing for the elderly and people with disabilities), Neighborhood Stabilization Program, CDBG (Community Development Block Grant Program), Housing Trust Fund, and PA Homeownership Choice. Mark has overseen asset management for over $55 million worth of multi-family assets. Mark also served as the Senior Housing Developer for Rural Opportunities (PathStone) in Harrisburg, PA and Housing Director with the Pélathé Indian Center in Lawrence, KS.

Mark currently oversees CDCB’s REO (Real Estate Owned) projects and is leading CDCB’s newest venture into the multi-family rental market.

Emily Axtman: CDCB typically does single-family residences as individual projects. Why did CDCB choose to do their first multi-family housing project now and in Harlingen?

Mark Mosely: With the downfall of the single-family market, a multi-family housing project made sense financially for CDCB and also will provide more families with more housing in less amount of time and space.

La Hacienda view south down "Center Street". The porches were designed to encourage more interaction among La Hacienda residents and xeroscaping will allow for low site-maintenance and require less water; both contributing to the proj…

La Hacienda view south down "Center Street". The porches were designed to encourage more interaction among La Hacienda residents and xeroscaping will allow for low site-maintenance and require less water; both contributing to the project's focus on the importance of community and sustainability.

EA: Why did CDCB choose the property in Harlingen over other sites?

MM: The location was originally supposed to be on the outskirts of Cameron Park [one of the Cameron County colonias], however it was known that the site in Harlingen would receive one additional point on the tax credit application, [this was necessary in order to do the project] so CDCB went ahead with the Harlingen site. Securing the site in Harlingen essentially meant a better chance at receiving the tax credit and the project actually going through. CDCB will be leasing the land from the Cameron County Housing Authority for 75 years.

EA: How did bcWORKSHOP become involved and why?

MM: CDCB interviewed several architecture firms to take on CDCB's first multi-family housing project; most were qualified, however bcWORKSHOP stood out in that CDCB felt they shared the same philosophy and over-arching values.

EA: What has been the biggest challenge of the project so far?

[This is where Mark paused. I could tell he had a list...]

MM: Taxing laws, the platting process, it's been very political — the most political project I've worked on actually, working with architects...

And then Mark paused and asked, "Are you going to publish this?"  When I told him yes, he stopped his list at that.

Planning for La Hacienda has been a complex process since its inception. Many entities are involved — the CDC, funders, banks, designers, contractors — not to mention this is CDCB's first time taking on a project at this scale. After tying up loose ends over the past 2 months, the project has finally broken ground and is quickly moving along!

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But La Hacienda isn't the ONLY project going on here in the Valley. I have been working with Maggie and Justin, the other team members of the LRGV crew, on several other exciting projects. Find out more about these projects in the next post!

Belden Trail

Learn more about Belden Trail and our work in the RGV.

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bcWORKSHOP has been invited to assist in the transformation of a former railroad segment into the Belden Trail, an urban pedestrian pathway, with the Friends of the Belden Trail, the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) and the lively West Brownsville community. This partnership began working together to collect memories, values, goals, and visions for the future. This community-wide effort builds upon the rich history of West Brownsville and aims  to keep the City moving, healthy, safe, and connected. The Belden Trail will be one of many inter-urban bike trail links that are planned or already built throughout the city. Community members and meeting participants are keenly aware of the connections between health and quality of life, and the need for healthy living opportunities in South Texas.

Dating back to the original township survey, the trail was once a street named after Brownsville founder, Samuel Belden. Over the course of years, the route was converted into part of the city’s expanding train track network and eventually abandoned as Brownsville’s transportation network and needs evolved. The tracks were removed, and the stretch was left to function as an informal alley, walking route and parking lane. The S-shaped street is in various states of repair along the one mile that connects West Brownsville to downtown neighborhoods. When completed, the trail will provide a safe pedestrian and bike-riding connection for the families of West Brownsville to commercial areas, schools, parks, and cultural resources in the historic town center. It will be a safe and fun route as well as a destination itself.

Follow the Friends of the Belden Trail to learn more about the project and get involved.

Neighborhood Stories

Learn more about Neighborhood Stories and POP Dallas.

Neighborhood Stories is an effort of bcWORKSHOP to strengthen awareness of our city, celebrate the diverse places that give it character and texture, and create a platform for active dialogue about its history and future. Neighborhood Stories celebrates individual voices through interviews with residents and other neighborhood stakeholders as part of bcWORKSHOP’s POP Dallas (People Organizing Place) initiative, a public interest design effort to strengthen the identity and vitality of our city’s neighborhoods. Neighborhoods are the scale of space where we most naturally interact--the space of our everyday lives--and where we form the communities that help shape ourselves. The stories people share about where they live--their memories, their concerns, their dreams--show us why place matters.

Neighborhood Planning for RGV Colonias

Learn more about our work in the RGV.

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The Colonia Neighborhood Plan Implementation Strategies are part of a larger effort to establish a community-based planning framework in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Plans for initial focus colonias, six in Hidalgo County and two in Cameron County, were developed between September 2011 and April 2012 through a participatory process involving colonia residents, community organizers, community-based organizations, planners, and designers. In a departure from previous planning work in the region, this process was organized around a series of meetings in each colonia, inviting community members to contribute and self-appoint neighborhood leaders. These plans identify and offer recommendations to ameliorate issues stemming from geographic isolation, poor physical infrastructure, and limited access to services and resources. Ultimately, this process advances the role of  participatory planning and design in improving the quality of life in the LRGV.  The plans are currently being used at various scales; at the community level, the plans serve as a checklist of goals that the communities have set for themselves while at the state and regional level it is a means of communication with policy makers, funders, non-profits, and regional authorities.

By working as an information gatherer and a technical resource, bcWORKSHOP has contributed to a coalition-wide effort making voices be heard, and playing a participatory role in development and policy making decisions.

This initiative was recognized by the SEED Network with an Honorable Mention for their 2013 Awards.

Check out the plans below:

Homeowners Bootcamp

Learn more about POP Dallas.

As a continued effort to strengthen the social, economic, and physical health of Dallas’s neighborhoods, bcWORKSHOP brought the POP [People Organizing Place] Dallas initiative to the 14th annual Dallas Homeowners' League (DHL) Neighborhood Bootcamp at City Hall on Saturday, August 25. Bringing together community leaders in an exchange of ideas for the betterment of Dallas's neighborhoods, DHL invited bcW to share three elements of POP: a workshop that introduced and applied the POP Toolkit;  the confirmation, adjustment and addition of neighborhood names and boundaries to the POP City Map; and the collection of Neighborhood Stories.

During the interactive work session, 21 neighborhood leaders learned about the Toolkit as a grassroots approach to addressing neighborhood issues through a four-step process. Following an introductory presentation, budding and battle-tested activists alike used the Toolkit to identify an issue, choose a scale, determine a method, and select tools to address an example concern from a volunteer. The session ended with robust discussion in breakout groups in which participants discussed local issues, swapped success stories, and shared strategies for unifying and activating their neighborhoods.

While the Toolkit presented strategies for how neighborhood leaders could direct their energy and efforts, bcWORKSHOP asked that they share their expertise in other ways. Throughout the event, residents of 27 different neighborhoods from across the city confirmed, adjusted, or added their neighborhood names and boundaries by drawing on enlarged sections of the City Map. Amidst the day’s activities, 7 new contributors to Neighborhood Stories took the time to share what they love about where they live and challenges they had overcome through collective action.

Rapido

Watch for future Rapido posts here.

On July 23rd, 2008, Hurricane Dolly made landfall in Texas’ Lower Rio Grande Valley causing widespread flooding and sustained winds of over 120mph. Low income residents in Cameron and Hildago Counties were hit hard, losing over $152 million dollars in housing related damages and contributing to a sum LRGV loss of $1 billion. As a result, the Texas Natural Disaster Housing Reconstruction Committee assembled a plan to design a statewide rapidly deployable replacement housing system for victims of federally declared natural disasters. Rapido is bcW’s response to the state’s initiative, addressing issues of social equity, rapid deployment, and constructability.

bcWORKSHOP’s disaster reconstruction strategy engages residents throughout the reconstruction process and contributes to the sustainable growth of place by enabling communities to recover quickly and allowing families to rebuild thoughtfully. Prior to beginning design work, bcW held several community workshops with Cameron County residents to determine what functions are most essential to one's home life after a disaster occurs and to prioritize home activity adjacencies.

Informed by resident input, a two-phased construction strategy was developed to enable rapid response after a disaster.  In phase one, qualified families will immediately receive a standardized phase one home that contains essential living facilities. Phase one homes will be constructed from a wet core module and a flat packed wall, roof, and floor panel system. The module and flat-pack panels will be individually built off-site and quickly assembled on site.  Families will reside in their “phase one home” until resources and time allow for expansion, at which point homes will be altered to accommodate long-term family needs and desires (site built phase two home). Between phase one and phase two, families will receive an expansion kit-of-parts catalogue and design consultation to help guide them in making informed decisions regarding home expansion. Individual design consultations will enable clients to personalize their space to meet their family needs and desires. Reconstructing in this manner creates communities of varied housing stock and visual interest as well as contributes to the long-term growth of Cameron County as a place.

bcWORKSHOP, in partnership with the Community Development Corporation of Brownsville, will be demonstrating and testing bcW’s Rapido strategy through the construction of several prototype homes for families affected by Hurricane Dolly. Prior to prototyping in the LRGV,  bcWORKSHOP demonstrated its first Rapido prototype at SMU’s Engineering & Humanity Week, April 15th-20th 2012. E&H week provided an opportunity to directly test Rapido’s construction process, deployment method, and performance to further inform future prototype designs.

Design of the second Rapido prototype is currently underway based on analysis and feedback received from round one prototyping.