Architecture Commons^™

Healthy Placemaking - Revitalizing Springfield's Medical District, Allyson Fairweather, Michael Gagnon, Tianyi Guan, James Mealey, Gwendolyn Stoll, Peter Wackernagel

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

Healthy Placemaking - Revitalizing Springfield’s Medical District

Healthy Placemaking for the North End Medical District was a community engagement urban design studio for Springfield, MA to propose a new vision for the Medical District as an exemplary model of healthy place-making. WHAT IS HEALTHY PLACE-MAKING? Healthy place-making is a creative process that generates an interconnected mixture of amenities that activate the public realm, creating a livelihood that builds upon sense of place. Urban design strategies consider the ecological relationship between people and the environment in order to provide design interventions that improve the mental, physical, social, and economic wellbeing of …

Springfield's Legacy: A Vision For A Transformative Transit-Oriented Union Station District, Keith Benoit, Nigel Cummings, Caitlan Davis, Kinjal Desai, Marcos Gonzalez, Jiaqi Guo, Anna Kellerman, Olivia Ashjian James, Bryce Lloyd-Hahn, Stephen Mccusker, Chris Ramage, Jessica Schottanes

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This urban design studio developed concepts around equitable transportation Union Station in Springfield, Massachusetts. The work creates a vision for the Union Station District, a revitalized mixed-use walkable neighborhood adjacent to the restored transportation center. It emphasizes reusing the city’s historic street grid in new, forward thinking ways that enhance neighborhood connectivity. The plan creates physical and social networks that bring together diverse groups of residents and visitors. The Union Station District will be a place that offers a range of non-automobile transportation options to residents and visitors and will help transforming an area characterized by vacant lots and empty …

Knitting Together Communities - Designing The Heart Of Six Corners And Old Hill, Samantha Bowman, Ankur Choudhary, Alexandria Connell, Megan Davey, Katina Decoulos, Richard Duhamel, Brooklyn Feng, Ian Finn, Doreen Guan, Sophia Liquori, Connor Moloney, Claudia Namaroff, Emily Noonan, Hunter Proulx, Stephen Rezendes, Maura Robitaille, Vincent Shu, Jaques Skriletz, Frank Sleegers

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

Knitting together Communities -Designing the Heart of Six Corners and Old Hill

Knitting Together Communities – Designing the Heart of Six Corners and Old Hill provides a framework to knit together assets and opportunities for creating a strong identity and sense of coherence for a transformative urban district in Springfield, MA. The Senior Urban Design Studio 2019 created six proposals that were searching for design opportunities that enhance the aesthetic quality of the neighborhood and increase services for the wellbeing of the residents. The two neighborhoods are characterized by strong neighborhood leadership through committed residents, community centers and active religious …

Just Big Enough: Imagining The Future Of "Small Home" Residential Design With A Master Plan At The Nexus Of Affordability And Sustainability, Maggie Kraus

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

Communities everywhere are experiencing significant and unpredictable shifts in the social and physical infrastructure of their landscapes. In the midst of a cultural, political, and ecological moment which has no precedent, it seems as though many of our contemporary crises have one thing in common: they will either be alleviated or drastically exacerbated by the alliance of professions working to improve the built environment. Now more than ever, the world is in need of designers, planners, and policy-makers who are willing to use this moment of great change as momentum to imagine a new era of community development, one which …

Umass Amherst Green Building Guidelines V.2 And Leedv4, Kylie A. Landrey, Ted Mendoza, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Mohamad Farzinmoghadam, Somayeh Tabatabaee, Nariman Mostafavi, Ray Kinoshita Mann, Jeffrey Dalzell, Ajla Aksamija

Campus Planning Reports and Plans

Facilities & Campus Services supports sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers, contractors and other consultants working with the University. The UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines v2 and LEED v4 provide a framework for approaching new construction and major renovation projects at UMass Amherst that are undergoing LEED v4 certification by focusing the conversation on those green building aspects that are most important to the campus. They are intended to be the beginning of a dynamic conversation between designers, environmental consultants and constructors, university stakeholders, and users of new high performance …

Umass Amherst Campus Green Building Resources, Ludmilla D. Pavlova-Gillham

Campus Planning Community and Conference Presentations

UMass Amherst is a STARS Gold institution that has received numerous awards for its sustainability efforts in higher education. To celebrate the physical elements of the campus sustainability achievements, and to inform campus staff, faculty and students how to support green building projects, Campus Planning and Design & Construction sponsored a presentation to the campus community on Campus Green Building Resources: LEED and Beyond. Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Senior Campus Planner reviews the commitment UMass Amherst has made to sustainable design and construction and the range of sustainability/LEED resources available to campus staff, faculty and students as they work on planning, designing …

Umass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Nariman Mostafavi, Mohamad Farzinmoghadam, Kylie A. Landrey, Somayeh Tabatabaee Pozveh, Ezra Small, Ted Mendoza, Jason J. Burbank, Robert Ryan, Dennis Swinford, Niels La Cour, Alexander Stepanov

Campus Planning Master Plans

The UMass Amherst Campus Master Plan Sustainability Chapter articulates the manner in which the Campus Master Plan 2012 principles translate into specific recommendations for campus systems development in support of future smart growth. It summarizes the current physical campus-scale planning projects that Facilities & Campus Services have completed during and after the Master Plan process, and incorporates other operational and educational initiatives that have engaged our campus community as we plan for sustainability.

The CMP Chapter is organized in three major sections: i) sustainability overview; ii) campus master plan systems; iii) current initiatives; and iv) next steps. The first section …

Umass Amherst Energy Modeling Guidelines, Nariman Mostafavi, Ted Mendoza, Jeffrey G. Quackenbush, Sandy J. Beauregard, Jason J. Burbank, Mohamad Farzinmoghadam, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Kylie A. Landrey

Campus Planning Reports and Plans

Facilities & Campus Services, Sustainable UMass and Campus Planning support sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers and contractors working with the University. The Campus energy Modeling Guidelines were developed in 2015 as a resource on how to: i) generate energy models for campus buildings; ii) provide quality assurance review of current energy models; and iii) share UMass Amherst energy modeling input parameters with project design teams for them to establish a baseline building energy profile.

Umass Amherst Building Measurement, Verification, Coordination And Template Plan, Nariman Mostafavi, Ted Mendoza, Jeffrey G. Quackenbush, Sandy J. Beauregard, Jason J. Burbank, Mohamad Farzinmoghadam, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Kylie A. Landrey, Patricia O'Flaherty

Campus Planning Reports and Plans

Facilities & Campus Services, Sustainable UMass and Campus Planning support sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers and contractors working with the University. The UMass Amherst Building Measurement, Verification, Coordination and Template Plan was begun in 2013 and finalized in 2015 as a resource to project teams that undertake the measurement and verification of building systems during the first year of occupancy of a new building and renovation project, particularly projects undergoing LEED certification.

Redefining America’S Postwar Urban Renewal At The Northgate Of Springfield, Ma, Mohammed Abdelaal, Meilan Chen, Zhuoya Deng, Ericka Duym, Laura Keskula, Joseph Larico, Bin Liu, Shu Liu, Wenjie Liu, Tharyn Nein-Large, Junzhi (Jason) Yu, Zhangkan Zhou

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This project presents visions for an underutilized and overlooked district in Springfield, MA, developed by the Graduate Urban Design Studio in the spring of 2014. The area between downtown and the North End neighborhood has undergone major transformations in the 1950’s and 1960’s during America’s era of postwar urban renewal. Residential blocks were replaced by large office buildings and oversized streets left a ”no-man’s land”. The current rehabilitation of the Springfield’s Union Station into an intermodal transportation hub should draw new attention to the area as the northern gateway to downtown - the “Northgate”. Five visionary design proposals rethink and …

The Revitalization Of Springfield’S North End - Envisioning New Housing And Places To Live, Work And Recreate, Samantha R. Anderson, Ngoc Xuan Doan, Ivette Banoub, Keith W. Hannon, Trudy M. Hall, Irene Estelle Miller, Colin N. O'Donnell, Amanda Lynn Rookey, Yan Xu

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This report summarizes the results of a seven-week design studio in our Landscape Architecture Program and engaged experts, stakeholders and medical students of the Memorial Square Neighborhood, in conjunction with planning officials from the Springfield Office of Planning and Economic Development. The project brought students and local export together in a supportive and constructive atmosphere of reciprocal learning.

The proposals seek to connect the powerful economy of the medical sector with the rich culture of the North End to create a more balanced social and economic climate. More spatial, green connections of the hospitals with local businesses on Main Street …

University Of Massachusetts Amherst 2012-2021 Capital Improvement Projects, Douglas Vigneau, Juanita Holler, University Of Massachusetts Building Authority, John Mathews, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Ezra Small

Campus Planning Master Plans

In 2013 the University of Massachusetts, on behalf of the University of Massachusetts Building Authority and Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM), submitted an Expanded Environmental Notification Form for the University's 2012 - 2021 Capital Improvement Plan to the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA) Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Office (MEPA).

Taken individually, the majority of the Projects, comprising of 13 building/space, 7 site/landscape, and 5 facility/ utility scale improvement projects, do not require MEPA review as most of the Project sites are confined to infill areas on campus that are currently or …

Umass Amherst Green Building Guidelines 2013, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Ted Mendoza, Ezra Small, Patricia O'Flaherty, Nariman Mostafavi, Mohamed Farzinmoghadam, Somayeh Tabatabaee Pozveh

Campus Planning Reports and Plans

Facilities & Campus Services, Sustainable UMass and Campus Planning support sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers and contractors working with the University. The UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines provide a framework for approaching new construction and major renovation projects at UMass Amherst that are undergoing LEED certification by focusing the conversation on green building aspects that are most important to the campus. They are intended to be the beginning of a dynamic conversation between designers, environmental consultants and constructors, university stakeholders, and users of new high performance buildings.

Culture, Community Development, And Sustainability In A Post-Freeway City, Bryan Obara

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Freeways that once tore through the urban fabric are now reaching the end of their lifespan and raising the question as to whether it is time to rebuild or remove them. The Interstate system has revolutionized transportation, connecting cities nationwide, but at the same time has slashed through existing neighborhoods.

The very land from which hundreds of Fox Point residents were evicted for the construction of Interstate 195 through Providence, Rhode Island, now lies barren as a result of the interstate’s realignment. The surplus land, rezoned as the East Side Overlay District (ESOD), connects the Providence River and Narragansett Bay …

Reconnecting People To Springfield’S Riverfront: From The South End To Forest Park, Nathaniel J. Bernard, Matthew S. Gallagher, Amanda Hart, Kyle J. Jackson, Corey E. Lammerding, Michael Naughton, Nicholas A. Petrouski, Jim P. Reichheld, Michael J. Ritacco, Matthew J. Silveria, Rebecca Leona Tran, Alisha L. Walls

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This report documents the work of the Senior Urban Design Studio on Springfield’s southern riverfront. What is Springfield’s riverfront of tomorrow? The primary goal of the project was to develop a vision to connect the neighborhoods of the South End and Forest Park to the Connecticut River. What are new imaginative ways to engage the southern waterfront of Springfield as a place for people? How can a landscape engage water-ecology with both functional and sensual-aesthetic values?

Our proposals offer new planning and design strategies for this great location in Springfield.

The studio articulated four major design objectives:

1. Improving and creating …

Town Of Braintree - Monatiquot River Watershed Study, Benjamin D'Agostino, Elizabeth A. Englebretson, Carli Foster, Jeffrey Scott Fulford, Edward P. Haynes, Tracy Murphy, Sparky Vonplinsky, Eric Wojtowicz

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

Monatiquot River has played an important role in the Town of Braintree’s great industrial history. Over time, people’s relationship with the river has evolved from daily necessity and industrial utilitarian usage to scenery and recreational amenity. Currently, there is limited public physical access to the water and a lack of connection to regional greenway system. In addition, the extreme flood in March 2010 signified the prolonged urbanization impacts on floodplains and massive impervious surfaces in the watershed. Under the climate change effects, Braintree is likely to face more frequent and severe storms that affect safety and welfare of the increasing …

Creating Livable Neighborhoods In Old Hill And Six Corners, Springfield, Massachusetts, Ryan Ball, Tai-Hsiang Cheng, Rebekah Decourcey, Somaye Garmroudi, Youjin Kwon, Jennifer Masters, Pat Mcgeough, Kathryn Ostermier, Maureen Pollock, Laura Selmani, Feiqiang Tong, Carol Waag, Fangfang Wang, Andrew Weir, Lawson Wulsin

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This report documents the work of the Graduate Urban Design Studio in Springfield’s Old Hill and Six Corners neighborhoods with 12,000 inhabitants. Both neighborhoods are challenged by a very low average household income, housing foreclosures, lot vacancies, lack of substantial home ownership, high traffic volumes and poor quality of open space. The primary goal of the project was to develop a vision to renew Old Hill and Six Corners to improve livability for their residents and create new opportunities for housing, recreation, working and commercial activities. Crucial keys to attaining this goal will be creating a stronger sense of place …

Biomimicry: Emulating The Closed-Loops Systems Of The Oak Tree For Sustainable Architecture, Courtney Drake

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Biomimicry comes from bios, life, and mimesis, to imitate. Biomimicry is becoming an increasingly well-known topic in the field of architecture, imitating nature’s designs and processes to solve human problems. This project uses the oak tree as a model, measure, and mentor to derive sustainable architecture. Biomimicry is examined as a holistic methodology with six steps: identify, interpret, discover, abstract, emulate, and evaluate. Using this methodology, this project investigates oak tree’s closed-loop systems including water, oxygen, and food. The synergies that exist within these systems are emulated to develop a complex green infrastructure of building and landscape systems. …

Landscape Urbanism For The Highway City Of Springfield North End, Piyawut Inthasorn

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Honors Projects

The expansions of the transportation and roadway have made many cities in the United States having the interstates or highways cut through the city center. Springfield’s North End is one of them. The Interstate highway I-91 from Chicopee to South Spring has separated three North End neighborhoods into two sides; Liberty Height, Memorial Square, and Brightwood. The separation has not only changed community relation but also created many dramatic problems and consequences to the neighborhoods such as having disconnected access to the Connecticut River or the Van Horn Park, creating some pollution in water, air, sound, and other health issues. …

From The Quadrangle To The River: Revitalizing The Heart Of Downtown Springfield, Mary F. Dehais, Yuanfang Gong, John E. Hulsey, Pamela Jo Landi, Adam G. Monroy, Seth A. Morrow, Alexander G. Seib, Jie Su, Kate A. Tooke, Owen M. White, Emily S. Wright, Kuang Xin, Xiao Zhou

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This studio report explores community service learning in the graduate urban design studio taught in the in Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and instructed by Professor Frank Sleegers.

The project will began with a visioning workshop, conducted to engage community members in the shaping of project goals and objectives within the project area of downtown Springfield. These findings were brought to the studio and guided the design process and outcomes.

Five design teams developed five alternative master plans for the core area of downtown Springfield with focus on the revitalization of open …

Springfield`S Upper Lyman Warehouse District - Visions For Revitalization, Jane Alexanderr, Andre Belperron, Matt Bent, Nick Betts, Anthony Brow, Will Bunker, Tanya Chesnell, Julie Goodwin, Henry Hess, Christopher Johnson, Ryan Kemmerich, Wes Lomax, Nick Mastroianni, Carl Mccrae, Phil Morrison, James Rebello, Sage Sluter

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This report documents the work of the Senior Urban Design Studio in Springfield’s Upper Lyman District in downtown Springfield. It is part of the Metro Center neighborhood and adjacent to the Union Station that will be revitalized in 2016. The district is challenged by high vacancies and general abandonment. Housing opportunities and market-rate housing in particular are very low. The primary goal of the project was to develop a staged vision to revitalize and rediscover the Upper Lyman Warehouse District and to improve livability in the heart of downtown Springfield for employers, employees, residents, and visitors. The following recommendations can …

Rethinking Reiche, Tracie J. Reed

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Part I of the study examines the differences between two environmental assessment methods for the K‐12 education sector: the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Schools Version 3.0 and the British Research Establishment’s (BRE) BREEAM Education issue 2.0. Credit requirements are compared side‐by‐side and against recommendations from researchers in areas such as acoustics, lighting and indoor environment quality. Strengths in the two schemes and areas for improvement are highlighted, with acknowledgement that each scheme offers components and techniques from which the other could benefit. Part II of the study introduces the Howard C. Reiche Community School in Portland, Maine. …

Making Connections - Envisioning Springfield's North End, David M. Ahronian, Kelly R. Ashton, Erin G. Bassett, Maxwell A. Cohen, Victor J. Czulak, Gregory S. Dunbar, Brendan T. Farragher, Jonathan L. Gorman, Peter L. Guy Ii, Timothy J. Iles, Piyawut Inthasorn, Travis A. Johnson, Jonathan Koch, Justin J. Kronewitter, Zachary B. Livingston, Matthew Morano, Brian Mulvehill, Kevin C. Murphy, Sean P. O'Connell, Peter W. Stephens Jr., Christopher Tourigny, Bryce P. White, Timothy E. Young

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This work explores a service learning strategy in the context of the senior Urban Design Studio taught in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The primary goal of this project is to stimulate a conversation in the neighborhoods of the North End, to develop green design strategies, to improve services and businesses for residents and the employees of local businesses, and to foster cultural engagement and interaction in the North End that will enhance the vibrancy, resilience, and quality of life of this urban community. Making connections - Envisioning Springfield's North End …

Revitalizing The South End - The Gateway For Downtown Springfield, Barbara J. Constable, Brian Giggey, Christopher J. Jennette, Julie P. Meyer, Megan M. Plante, Diana W. Slawniak, Ben Eli Webb, Duanchai Yomdit, Deborah A. Zervas

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This studio report explores a service learning strategy in the context of the Graduate Urban Design Studio taught in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The primary goal of this project is to design the South End as the future gateway for downtown Springfield that will help to transform it into a vibrant urban community.

Green design strategies, improvement of services and businesses for residents and the employees of local businesses, and new housing opportunities will enhance the vibrancy, resilience, and quality of life of this disadvantaged urban community. Revitalizing the South …

Modes, Means And Measures: Adapting Sustainability Indicators To Assess Preservation Activity's Impact On Community Equity, Mackenzie M. Greer

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Preservation of and reinvestment in the built environment as a redevelopment tool has been used by cities and towns across the country, in many cases providing significant social, economic and environmental benefits. Potential social effects have often been the least explored aspect of sustainable development, especially with regard to preservation, yet they are often the most challenging, particularly given the potential for displacement.

This thesis reviews literature where the issues of preservation, redevelopment and sustainability intersect. A set of best practices was developed that can be applied to other cities and towns to help balance preservation- and equity- enhancing activities. …

Regenerative Architecture: A Pathway Beyond Sustainability, Jacob A. Littman

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The current paradigm in the field of architecture today is one of degeneration and obsolete building technologies. Regenerative architecture is the practice of engaging the natural world as the medium for, and generator of the architecture. It responds to and utilizes the living and natural systems that exist on a site that become the “building blocks” of the architecture. Regenerative architecture has two focuses; it is an architecture that focuses on conservation and performance through a focused reduction on the environmental impacts of a building.

This paper introduces regenerative architecture as a means for architectural design. I present the Nine …

Stormwater Management Trends: A Review Of Tools, Techniques And Methods For Design And Development Of The Land With Implications For Sustainable Design, William C. Cone

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Masters Projects

The design of stormwater management systems is currently undergoing scrutiny and revision. This has been a long ongoing process that began to take shape in the late 1980s following the adoption of new federal regulations controlling discharge of pollutants into water bodies, rivers and streams. It became apparent after these regulations began to have an affect that other sources of pollution existed that were less easily pin pointed to a single source. Researchers and engineers began looking at stormwater as a culprit. This corresponded with revisions to the understanding of ecology as well as deeper richer understanding of the natural …

The Usher Plant Review And 8-Point Action Plan, Center For Economic Development

Center for Economic Development Technical Reports

The Usher Plant is located on Arch Street off of Route 2 in Erving, Massachusetts in the center village of the town. The plant is a rich part of the social, economic, and cultural identity of the town and its residents. The Erving Paper Company occupied this plant from 1964 to approximately 1990, when the company consolidated and moved its operations leaving over one-hundred workers either displaced or unemployed and the Usher Plant vacant.

The closing of the Usher Plant approximately 10 years ago has had a tremendous impact on the community residents, as well as Erving's center village merchants …