Cape Christian Fellowship Church in Cape Coral, Fla., chose to build a 100,000 square foot community park instead of a new worship center. Knäak Design Group collaborated with the church to create Fellowship Park, which features a splashpad, playgrounds for varying ages, sports fields, covered pavilions, a café, and more.

Cape Christian Fellowship Church, a non-denominational Christian church in Cape Coral, Fla., had plans to construct a new worship center to accommodate their growing congregation. After taking a look at the community, however, they decided that the city would benefit more from a new community park. The church called on Knäak Design Group (KDG), a progressive landscape architecture and planning firm headquartered in Bonita Springs, Fla., to do the job.

The centrally located 3,000 square foot splashpad features 57 water jets and LED-programmed lights at night. The church wanted a freeform curvilinear theme for the park, seen in the multicolored circles of the splashpad. The splashpad was manufactured in Texas and sent to Cape Coral for this project.

Responsibilities and Design
KDG handled the site planning and landscape architecture for the five-acre site, now home to Fellowship Park and Tony & Ada's Café. The goal was to create a family-centric, multi-featured park that was open to the public at large and aligned with the church's evangelical mission for community outreach.

According to Robert Knäak, registered landscape architect and principal of Knäak Design Group, the firm's role in the project was intensively collaborative with their client. The church wanted a freeform, curvilinear theme for the park with lush tropical plantings and a splashpad as the main feature.

The park features two unique playground areas, one designed for children and the other designed for young teens. This large web-like climbing apparatus for young teens was made through collaboration between KDG, Playmore Recreational Products, and Playworld Systems. Brightly colored sail-like canopies from Shade Systems cover both play areas.

Knäak used an approach for the hardscape design where circles are positioned inside a predetermined curvilinear area. Radii are extended away from these circles to the outside edge of the curvilinear pavement area or to the edges of the nearby circles to establish material patterns. Everything was built concentrically around the splashpad, including the unique circular basketball courts.

Cape Christian leaders stressed the importance of playgrounds for children of all ages because Cape Coral does not have many public spaces for recreation. The driving factor for the park was to leave a large enough open space for sports and live events such as concerts. The church decided to create an open grass area where a stage could be set up, allowing the sports field to double as an amphitheater. Another significant part of the design was the grand entry, which includes a fountain for baptisms and permanent seating for gatherings.

The children's play area includes a seesaw, plenty of slides, and a "Spinami" upright spinning whirl structure, visible to the left. Xgrass artificial turf on top of a 2" foam pad was used around the playground areas. Jet black steel posts use stainless steel bolts to attach to the fire orange, aquatic blue, and lime green canopies that shade the play areas.

Creation
KDG created a prominent and inviting entrance to the church, including raised planters with Royal palms that extend from the parking lot to the front doors. A courtyard gathering space includes built-in pavilion type seating for 200 for before and after mass. The focal point of this space is a central fountain used for baptisms. Large crape myrtle trees were placed in a gridded pattern amongst tables and chairs, next to Tony & Ada's Café. This quick service restaurant named after two of the church's founding members serves handcrafted coffee drinks and gourmet snacks.

The playground area features different play structures for different age groups. The young teen area includes a large web-like climbing apparatus shaded by an aquatic blue canopy. The children's playground features multiple slides, a rock climber, a seesaw, and ADA rhythm spinner panels. Both playgrounds are shaded with bright sail-like canopies from Shade Systems. In addition to these covered play spaces, there are swings for all ages, including a tire swing, tot swing, and ADA compliant swing. A multi-purpose field provides expansive lawn areas for team sports as well as concerts and festivals. An 8' berm built near one end of the field provides a space for people to sit and watch events.

Next to the sports fields, playgrounds and one of the pavilions, an unusual basketball court continues the curvilinear theme of the park. The round court has four hoops spaced equidistantly around the circle, and has lighting for evening games.

The 3,000 square foot centrally located splash pad features 57 water jets. At night, LED-programmed lighting illuminates the play area. Close by, a unique circular four-plex of lighted basketball courts provides another space for recreation. The basketball hoops are spaced equidistantly around a circle to form two intersecting full courts, or four half courts.

Covered pavilions around the play areas are equipped with lighting, fans and electrical outlets. These three pavilions, which shelter Breezesta picnic furniture, can be rented out for parties and events. All of the outdoor furniture throughout the site is made from recycled materials. Landscaping across the park involves a mixture of hundreds of lush tropical and native plant species, including silver saw palmetto, orange Bird of Paradise, shining jasmine, and nine different species of palm trees.

Knäak Design Group utilized full color 3D perspective renderings so that the client could visualize the space, materials, and overall aesthetic of Fellowship Park. The 3D renderings supplemented the extensive client collaboration and onsite field observation to ensure the design goals were met.

The walkway leading from the parking lot to the worship center is lined on the right with royal palms. The circular water feature is used for baptisms and serves as a unique focal point. Normally, the fountain is not covered, a cover was placed as a temporary solution when concerns arose over the safety of children who were playing in it. The fountain is now chlorinated, so kids can play safely in the water. The pavers are a vanilla, caramel and charcoal mix, with a solid charcoal border. The plaza has permanent seating for about 200.

Challenges and Completion
Some site challenges that KDG had to address were related to the existing infrastructure, such as sewer lines and electrical. Cape Christian did not possess an accurate survey, which caused a few bumps in the planning.

Another challenge the church faced was opposition from residential neighbors. Initially, the Church wanted a permanent amphitheater built with a large space frame canopy, interior dressing rooms, staging areas, multi-media technology, and more. With protests against the potential noise pollution the amphitheater would bring, Cape Christian opted instead for a quick service restaurant known as Tony & Ada's Café.

Crape myrtle trees in a gridded pattern create a shady nook, with poly lumber chairs and tables made from 100 percent recycled materials. The shaded seating area was designed to provide a quiet place for adults away from the noise of the playground, but still within sight of it.

Cape Christian faced one last challenge in the overall budget and time frame. By the end of the design phase, Cape Christian doubled its cost by adding and expanding more amenities. Based on the client's multiple dimensions and budget limitations, KDG was able to provide design solutions that met Cape Christian's needs and allowed for several parts of the project to be completed in phases. Phase one included the large sunken baptismal fountain, beautifully paved courtyard, a huge seating area underneath large crape myrtle trees, and hundreds of plants, palm trees and other lush vegetation. Through aggressive fundraising efforts and by extending their deadline from 12 months to 24 months, Knäak Design Group was able to realize Cape Christian's vision for the community without making too many concessions.

The success of the project depended heavily on the master planning, project management, and communication from start to finish. Extensive detail of the design concept by KDG was necessary throughout the project to assure optimum functionality, to attain the project's goals, and to meet the client's dynamic schedule.

Team and Materials List
Landscape Architecture, Design and Planning
Knäak Design Group
Furniture
Breezesta
Playground Equipment
Playmore, an affiliate of Playworld Systems
Canopy Coverings
Shade Systems
Artificial Turf
Xgrass