The stitch

Team Members:

Jessica Braverman, Ellen Cassilly, Jessica Cochran, Katherine Hogan, Siler Ransmeier, Brian Richards, Crystal Vaughn, Thomas Woltz

Major moves on our site include two mass bridges. One of park space from Dorothea Dix Park over to Pullen Park, and an urban mass bridge to enhance the connection from our site to downtown, Boylan Heights, and Union Station.

The school itself has been moved into a newer building located in our development, which gives the students and their families the ability to be housed together, and learn in graduated environments to increase confidence and to increase visibility of the visually impaired in the community. The old school campus has been turned into a health and wellness centered campus, integrating programs from Shaw, NCSU’s school of design and wellness research, and Peace University to advance the study of elements related to health and wellness in design and the community.

Continuing the theme of integration, there is programmed space for a reintegration program in the site, as well as a mental health rehabilitation center, where, like the school, participants live in graduated environments to assist in their reintegration. Mixed use and retail elements will encourage employment and job training for underserved and underemployed populations, as well as participants in the school and reintegration and rehabilitation programs. Artist spaces and maker spaces will be available as well. Connection to the existing and future elements of Pullen Park provide fantastic play opportunities for children.

Our park space is programmed in multiple elements. It uses the historic memory of the prison site by preserving the original stone wall and creating a community lawn within it. This space can transform depending on the needs of the neighborhood for movies on the green, farmers markets, public meetings etc. And abuts a contemplative landscape to the south, which includes memorial elements to the Dix and Prison sites and educational opportunities for engagement and social justice learning. As a sustainability move and to incorporate a water element into our site, we are daylighting the storm waterrunoff from the site and rail lines into a terraced, water treatment element which connects to Walnut Creek.