Landscape Architecture – Logan Simpson

Aug
2023
15
2023 / Aug / 15
Fairfax Park
- posted in
This public urban pocket park was constructed in the middle of a redeveloped mixed-use, higher density block. Features in the park were designed to meet the multi-generational needs of adjacent residents based on an extensive public engagement process. Park amenities will include a splash pad, custom shade structures, and a unique urban play structure centered in the park. Surface drainage and runoff will be filtered through a bioretention planter medium before being released to downstream storm drains. The University of Colorado Denver partnered with Logan Simpson to prepare baseline data that can be used to measure the performance of the park after its construction.
Aug
2023
15
2023 / Aug / 15
Navigating Farmington’s Future Comprehensive Plan
- posted in
Logan Simpson completed an update to the City of Farmington, New Mexico’s 2002 Comprehensive Plan to reflect the City’s transformation from an economy traditionally reliant on oil, gas, and coal extraction, to one that is much more diverse. Policies within the draft plan highlight an economic future that strengthens key assets such as: outdoor recreation opportunities; a burgeoning film industry; and access to regional healthcare and higher-level education; increased tourism; and becoming an active lifestyle destination for its influx of retirees. The Plan provides recommendations to assist Farmington’s governing bodies in decision-making, moving policy and development forward in a productive way conducive to transforming Farmington into a healthy, sustainable economy. The Plan is reflective of public outreach efforts by integrating what residents and business owners love and the issues they identify. Based on public input, the update includes new elements such as planning for healthy and socially sustainable communities, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, and environmental quality.
Aug
2023
10
2023 / Aug / 10
Frisco Bay Marina Master Plan
- posted in
Logan Simpson developed the vision and master plan for the Frisco Bay Marina on Lake Dillon. The plan, which was approved in July 2018, is a community-supported guide for the Town to implement components of the design as funding allows. Short- and long-term goals and implementable actions include making the park an extension of Main Street and addressing connectivity and access concerns around the waterfront. The marina’s capacity will be expanded to accommodate all types of boating, and recommendations were made to both activate and support year-round uses. In addition, actions were outlined to enhance and restore the ecology at the shoreline and overall site.
Jul
2020
01
2020 / Jul / 01
Veterans Reflection Circle
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Veterans Reflection Circle honors the service of US Army Sergeant First Class Brian Mancini, who was wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq. After he returned to his Surprise, Arizona hometown, Brian founded the nonprofit Honor House to help service men and women to make the transition back to civilian life. The memorial includes three distinct areas that tell Brian’s story. The center of the memorial represents the internal impact of Brian’s service. It features tough desert plants that surround and protect “Brian’s Bench,” a water feature that overlooks the entire memorial. An outer circle represents the community and how it surrounded Brian with support. Benches in this area allow people to pause for reflection. The “Last Walk” represents the journey only Brian could take. It connects the inner circle to the outer reaches of the reflection space and a community lake where Brian fished as a way to find healing.
Throughout the memorial, protective concrete barriers known as Bremer walls echo the Iraqi landscape Brian experienced. The Bremer walls also provide space to display a mural about his journey, a dedication plaque, and a poem Brian wrote.
This memorial was realized as a private-public partnership. It is located on land donated by the City of Surprise. Logan Simpson collaborated with WERK Urban Design to organize nearly 40 consultants and contractors, who donated nearly $385,000 to make the memorial a reality.
Jul
2020
01
2020 / Jul / 01
Arizona National Memorial Cemetery
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Logan Simpson provided planning, design, and construction administration for a 31,000-gravesite expansion of the only national cemetery that features a desert design theme. The cemetery included 14,000 new burial plots, 7,000 in-ground cremain sites, and a 10,000-niche columbarium. Other provided improvements included storm drainage modifications, a founder’s plaza, three committal shelters, an assembly area, a new entry road and gate, a public information center, expansion of the existing maintenance building, expansion of the internal road system, new utilities, signage, native plantings, and irrigation. Desert planting themes include native revegetation along the project boundaries and road edges, a native garden in the larger public gathering spaces, and wash revegetation along the edges of the drainage ways and detention basins.
Jul
2020
01
2020 / Jul / 01
Chandler Fire Administration Building/Servicemen’s Memorial Plaza
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Logan Simpson’s landscape architecture team developed a comprehensive landscape and hardscape design for this Gold LEED-certified project. Site improvements included staff/visitor parking; a private staff courtyard; and street-front landscaping. The landscape architecture design features a memorial plaza between the fire administration building and the police headquarters. The plaza design merges two circles, symbolizing both departments. Integral colored concrete weaves through the circles toward two memorial sculptures. An arbor shade structure, the backbone of the plaza, helps blend the buildings’ architecture. Circular walls frame the views of the memorials, functioning as buffers and providing private seating. Colorful concrete banding designed within the paving helps to enhance the central focus of the space. A central lawn area softens the hardscape and provides an intimate feel when the plaza is not being used for large events. In addition, to meet CPTED requirements, plants stair-step back toward walls and building foundations to improve visibility. The Memorial Plaza is shared by the Chandler Fire and Police Departments and includes two memorials to the fallen local heroes who lost their lives in the line of duty and those who lost their lives in the World Trade Center attacks.
Jun
2020
17
2020 / Jun / 17
ECO PHX
- posted in
ECO PHX is being created to meet an under-served market of environmentally conscientious residents. This purposefully sustainable, infill development of 70 apartment homes that demonstrates what is possible with today’s technology. To accomplish this objective, we approached the design process from the inside out, with sustainability components at the heart of the building’s design. The result is an economically feasible structure integrating sustainable building systems that create a distinctive residential community.

The project integrates biomimicry by imitating the natural processes of our native Sonoran Desert: Curb cuts will bring in stormwater into the bioswales and provide a dual function of cleaning the water through vegetation as well as supplementing irrigation needs. The green wall mimics Arizona canyons and helps to cool the building. Recycled shower water from the building’s residents provides irrigation, vital in this arid climate.

ECO PHX sets the standard for future development in Phoenix. The project is being completed for Habitat Metro and the Fenix Capital Group; team members include WERK | urban design, CCBG Architecture, Ritoch Powell, and Sletten Construction.
Jun
2020
17
2020 / Jun / 17
Block 32 Utilities Administration Building
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Located in downtown Fort Collins, Block 32 was an under-utilized parcel with potential to become a vibrant civic campus and public space. Logan Simpson worked with the architect (RNL Design) to develop programming, development concepts, and master planning for the parcel. This vision for the Civic Center is built around sustainable best practices and quality urban design standards. The design team embraced the buildings utilities’ services theme and aspired towards Net Zero classification, coordinating use of solar energy, high efficiency building materials, and low impact design planting strategies. The design incorporates the preservation of a small historic building on site with elements such as rain gardens, a living wall, and utility-themed public art formed into concrete entry walls. Construction on the two-acre Utilities Administration Building site was completed in late 2016. In June 2017, the site was awarded LEEDv4 New Construction (NC) Platinum status, the first V4 NC Platinum project in Colorado, and only the 3rd awarded in the U.S.
Jun
2020
16
2020 / Jun / 16
Scottsdale Airport Gateway – Hayden Road, Cactus to Redfield
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This 1.3-mile roadway segment is a gateway to Scottsdale Airport. As visitors approach the airport, they pass a series of steel “wing” sculptures representing the transition from bird wings to airplane wings. The entry plaza features the stunning sculpture Icarus Falling by Dale Wright. The surrounding hardscape features compass points in the plaza walls and bollards and constellations used for navigation during flight cast into the ground surface. The project was recognized by the Arizona Chapter of the American Concrete Institute in 2006 for “Unusual Use of Concrete.” The plant palette features low-water-use, desert-adapted plants compatible with the neighborhood context. The landscape layout reflects the transition from the urban character south of the project area to the more natural desert that exists north.
Jun
2020
16
2020 / Jun / 16
CSU Football Practice Facility and Heritage Garden
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Logan Simpson led the design of a football practice facility and a heritage garden adjacent to Colorado State University’s football stadium. The 2.6-acre facility contains a full-size field, a partial-length field, and specialty training equipment. The 0.7-acre Heritage Garden incorporates a decorative arbor and plantings from CSU’s six agricultural research stations to represent the university’s agricultural heritage. Logan Simpson’s landscape architects worked closely with CSU to understand the narrative the university wanted to convey. We added an interpretive plaza and improved an existing arboretum by adding outdoor classroom space and a collection of native and naturalized plant species. The Heritage Garden was completed prior to the opening of the new stadium, and now welcomes visitors to campus as they make their way to games and stadium events.