Stewardship of Dallas Through Design and Service

At Studio Outside, we take pride and joy in being good stewards of our city not just through designing landscapes, but also through maintaining them. Over the past year and a half, we’ve had the opportunity to assist in the maintenance of two of our built projects in addition to starting an annual cleanup in our office’s neighborhood. Everyone deserves well-designed and maintained landscapes, but they can be challenging to come across in Dallas' beautiful yet underinvested southern half, where all of these efforts took place.

South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park

Studio Outside recently worked with The Trust for Public Land (TPL) and The Nature Conservancy to design South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park, the first park within the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt Master Plan. Now open, it is located along the Alice Branch Creek and connects South Oak Cliff High School to the newly opened Honey Springs-Cedar Crest Trail. After TPL purchased the land, Studio Outside transformed the space from an illegal dumping site into a park that now serves as a community space, playground, and place to immerse oneself in nature.

Among the South Oak Cliff (SOC) community, Alice Branch Creek has been considered a nuisance for years. Due to a lack of care and maintenance, the waterway has a reputation for harboring trash and stench. However, SOC Renaissance Park is beginning to transform the creek into a neighborhood asset. Shortly before the park's opening, Studio Outside conducted a day of invasive plant removal. With several hand saws, a chainsaw, and a lot of sweat, we cut down and hauled away hundreds of invasive trees and shrubs that were blocking sunlight from reaching the forest floor. Their removal set the stage for a successful seeding of native understory grass and wildflower species along the creek’s banks and floodplain. The forest’s now regenerated understory will help filter rainwater, improving the creek’s water quality downstream.

South Oak Cliff High School

On average, Dallas’ public school campuses have only 7% tree canopy coverage. The Cool Schools initiative, led by Texas Trees Foundation, addresses this lack of trees by increasing future canopy coverage to 30% at selected campuses. Studio Outside partnered with the Texas Tree Foundation to provide landscape plans tailored to the specific needs of each campus, including new playgrounds, outdoor classrooms, and loop trails that promote the health and well-being of students. 

Getting hands-on in this effort, Outsiders spent a day in November of 2021 helping students at South Oak Cliff High School plant 70 trees. SOC High is one of the campuses within the Cool Schools Initiative and happens to be across the street from SOC Renaissance Park. Texas Trees Foundation will water these trees until established, and within a few years, the trees will shade the campus. Over the years, students and Outsiders alike will get to look back and see the difference they helped make.

Exposition Park Neighborhood Clean Up

Studio Outside's office is located in Exposition Park, a neighborhood of hundred-year-old, former industrial brick buildings nestled between Deep Ellum and Fair Park. The fabric of the neighborhood is cut in half by Interstate 30, an infamous divider in Dallas. Each year while the State Fair is in session, Exposition Avenue comes to life with a steady stream of pedestrians on their way to the fair, but many of them must travel under the Interstate 30 overpass - a domain of litter, tall chain link fences, and overgrown hackberry trees obstructing the sidewalk. No governmental body maintains this area, so Studio Outside decided to conduct an annual clean up before The Fair begins to create a more welcoming environment not just for the fairgoers but also everyone who lives and works in Exposition Park.

Continuing Efforts

The Studio Outside team is no stranger to the Twelve Hills Nature Preserve in North Oak Cliff, with many Outsiders serving on the board and doing design work there over the years. Our office is participating in a volunteer effort to adopt a ‘prairie ring’ of about 20 feet in diameter and transform it into a Blackland Prairie inspired garden. Blackland Prairies once covered all of Dallas, but only .03% of the original Blackland Prairie remains, making every bit left significant. Within the ring, Studio Outside is going to remove invasive species, and plant grasses and wildflowers that likely thrived on the same plot of land 200 years ago. Over time, the various rings will grow and connect into a larger prairie habitat.

Studio Outside cherishes volunteer activities like these to give back to the community and educate individuals about the importance of maintaining green spaces. We are excited to see what other opportunities 2023 presents us.

For more information, please visit:

https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/texas/

https://www.tpl.org/blog/plans-new-parks-south-dallas 

https://artandseek.org/2021/11/16/in-oak-cliff-a-dump-site-becomes-the-first-of-many-parks-coming-to-southern-dallas/

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/commentary/2021/11/19/still-we-rise-how-south-oak-cliff-turned-an-illegal-dump-into-a-state-of-the-art-25m-park/

Designing Sustainable Sites: Interview with Heather Venhaus

Studio Outside is pleased to share an interview we had with Heather Venhaus, principal of Regenerative Environmental Design (RED), a sustainable design-consulting firm in Austin, Texas that strives to connect natural and built systems in mutually beneficial ways. Heather works with clients to optimize environmental performance while minimizing resource use and long-term maintenance costs.  Heather has held several leadership roles in the American Society of Landscape Architects and the U. S. Green Building Council at both local and national levels.

1. I read that you are a West Texas native. How has that environment inspired you and your work throughout the years? Do you often return for inspiration?

Growing up in a West Texas farming and ranching family significantly influenced me and my land ethic. I was keenly aware of the relationship between the land and the people and the impacts they can have on each other. Comparisons of wet and dry years, native and CRP grasslands, Ogallala aquifer levels, farming practices and stories of the Dust Bowl - all shaped my ideas around soil restoration, water conservation, stewardship, and resiliency.


2. What attracted you to a landscape architecture program? What eventually made you pivot from the landscape architecture industry and move into a related field? How did this lead you to start your own consulting firm and authoring Designing the Sustainable Site?

I was initially attracted to landscape architecture because it sounded like an interesting cross between design and land management. Before going to college, I had never heard of landscape architecture or met a landscape architect. I really had no idea what to expect. I liked the challenge and creativity of the design studios but wanted to spend more time outside understanding and connecting with nature. This led me to focus on ecological restoration, the teachings of Aldo Leopold, and a stronger science background. Applied Ecological Services in Wisconsin gave me my first job out of college. AES is an interesting cross between a native plant nursery and an ecological design/build firm. I learned tons, and I am grateful for all they taught me. I found a niche working with designers, natural scientists, and educators. This eventually led to work at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, where I was lucky enough to be immersed in research, consulting, and the development of SITES. After a decade at the Wildflower Center, we decided to start a family, and I knew I would need more flexibility. After our son was born, I took a leap of faith and resigned. Not long after, Wiley approached me with the opportunity to work on a book, which I wrote while Emmett napped on the weekends. It was a long two years; I’m still tired! Thankfully, clients also found me, which led to me starting Regenerative Environmental Design. At RED, I worked to connect natural and built systems in mutually beneficial ways. My work focuses on site performance and building resiliency in urban and rural environments.

3. What is your process in balancing a one-size-fits-all sustainability approach vs. solving site-specific problems? How do you see professionals balancing these methodologies when designing for SITES certification?

Because landscapes are made up of living systems impacted by the surrounding environment, I’m not sure you can have a one-size-fits-all approach and call it sustainable. Project teams must go beyond the typical materials selection and energy/water conservation practices and find ways to preserve and restore the ecological processes that provide ecosystem services – the varied benefits provided by nature that make life possible for people.

SITES is a performance-based metric that was developed around the science of ecosystem services. It acknowledges the connection between the biotic and abiotic components of a landscape. The prerequisite and credit structure lead teams to better consider the associations between design solutions and multiple benefits.  

4. What specific sector of sustainability in the built environment are you most excited to focus on in the next decade? What are the indicators you see now that make you want to focus on this?

As our populations and cities continue to grow, I increasingly see the need for high-performance urban landscapes that accomplish multiple ecosystem services and, most importantly, connect people to nature. I want to be part of projects that help cities create clean air and water, provide food and habitat, and improve our health. I also want to be part of projects that bring sustainability and a love of nature into places it is not commonly found.  

5. We are currently working with you on The Ditch, which is attempting to achieve SITES Platinum. Tell us a little about this project from your perspective and what is unique about it when compared to other SITES projects?

There are over 200 SITES projects in the world, and only two are platinum. It’s a high bar, but I believe this owner and the design and construction team are right for the challenge. To move from SITES Gold to Platinum, projects need a champion, leadership from the Owner that is creative and tenacious enough to make it happen. The Middle Trinity Groundwater District project manager Stephanie Keith is our champion. Her energy, vision and passion are a strong driving force. I find the Ditch super exciting because it shows that sustainability, at a very high level, can be achieved on smaller projects with a limited budget. I also find the educational opportunities for visitors, the community, and groundwater districts across the state to be inspiring and a reason to work hard towards SITES Platinum.

Click here for more information about: Heather Venhaus, Regenerative Environmental Design (RED), and SITES.