rendering of the Intersection design proposal

As many people may know, here at KCDC we are working towards the development of the abandoned Kessler Park Reservoir. Although our designs and proposals for the project are educational in purpose, we hope to influence the city and community to continue development of the site past our time working on the project.
As a refresher, there are three proposals being developed by our team of students: Preservation, Intersection, and Integration. I am part of the Intersection group, in which we are proposing to create pathways through the reservoir that cause minimal interference but allow community and even city-wide events to occur.

Currently, my team and I are focusing on detailing an overhead canopy structure which will provide shade for the users of the space below. The above image shows a model we have created to understand the construction.
Underneath these canopies, we are designing what we call ‘pods’ which hold restrooms, concessions, and storage areas to allow a functional usage of the space for those utilizing the open recreational areas. An example of a pod can be seen in the picture above. The other detail we are currently developing is seating within the reservoir. We believe that providing seating under the structure and next to the pods will allow users of the space to relax, observe, and enjoy the space we have provided. You can see and example of the seating in the rendering below.

On behalf of the KCDC we want to thank everyone for the support, we just had a professional review at the beginning of last week to push the project in a direction that will allow for detailed final feedback from the public at our community meeting on April 5th (check out details here). We hope you can all join us and move this vision closer to reality!

The Kansas City Design Center would like to share an update on administrative/leadership changes to ensure our project stakeholders, community partners, and supporters are kept fully informed as we continue to carry out our collaborative mission. These are exciting changes as we continue to build our program, fortify our operational resilience and capitalize on the demonstrated staff talent and abilities. With the start of 2022, Mariah Randell, previously the KCDC Project Coordinator, assumed the role of KCDC Director of Operations and Outreach, and will continue to build the program’s partnerships and expand collaborative engagements throughout the city and the region as well as handle the day-to-day operations of the Center. Vladimir Krstic, Academic Programs Director at the KCDC, will continue his academic leadership role guiding and executing the program’s educational mission for the foreseeable future though he will retire from his professorial position at K-State effective June 2022.
We look forward to continuing our advocacy for a better built environment in Kansas City and beyond and focusing on an innovative, sustainable, and equitable future in architecture, design, and planning. Please reach out to Mariah Randell (mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org) with any questions you may have!

The studio has been busy furthering design development within all three of the design schemes. In order to do so, we completed two professional reviews and two community meetings, the most recent happening last week. We received great feedback from both groups.

Our public meeting last week was kindly hosted by the NEKC Chamber of Commerce. [Note: if you weren’t able to attend, you can view the presentation on youtube here, and leave feedback here] Our studio prepared a presentation that not only explained our research and analysis and overall master plan, but also did a deeper dive into all three design schemes. After the presentation, community members were able to walk around and learn more about each scheme and provide specific feedback on those designs. Each of the three groups used models, drawings, and precedent studies to help explain their design process and engage with the community members. While each group received varying feedback based on their designs, it was informative to help us move forward with our designs. Some of the main comments/concerns referenced safety and security in the park, lighting, considerations of phasing, and further programmatic consideration.

With all the feedback we have received from not only community members but also from area design professionals, we have been working to incorporate everyones concerns and suggestions. Through the use of analytical and study models, strategic processes and other techniques we hope to push the project even further to meet the needs of the community. Today, we meet with our Advisory team make up of our project stakeholders to make sure the project is on track and meeting its goals. We are also looking forward to presenting the project at the next Pendleton Heights neighborhood associations meeting on March 8th.