We all know of them. Those with four-legged friends that bark, fetch and run around with wild abandon akin to a four-year-old child who drank their parent's caramel mocha latte while they weren't looking know the exact location of them within a 20-mile radius of home. Dog parks of course. And landscape architects have had the enviable and enjoyable task of designing them of late. Here are three examples of these romping grounds made specifically for human's best friends.

LA Paws Dog Park
by RJM Design Group

Claiming to be the signature dog park in Mission Viejo, California, this six-acre park boasts three separate areas for large, small and single dogs. RJM Design Group was asked to prepare the conceptual design plans, which moved into construction documents for the full realization on the tricky project site. A healthy portion of the project had undevelopable slopes that blend into the arroyo below. The site was designed to integrate harmoniously with the surrounding naturalized areas, with an emphasis on controlling the stormwater runoff into the canyon. We worked closely with the civil engineering team to develop a balanced grading concept, incorporating filtrating bioswales with native plant material to slow and treat the runoff, and integrated a pervious gravel parking lot to allow water to infiltrate the surface. The central plaza entry to the dog park was constructed with pervious concrete pavers.

Visitors are greeted by a larger than life, bright purple aluminium Dalmatian puppy sculpture named "R. Hero," donated by the Hero in You Foundation, which was born from all those that lost their lives from the attacks
on 9/11.

Conversational seating areas and shade structures throughout the park offer venues for socialization and relaxation. The main entry plaza has an open, decomposed granite, multi-use area for special events, and the double-gate vestibules allow for easily controlled entry into each of the dog park areas. A walking trail circles the perimeter of the dog park, offering views into the park as well as panoramic vistas of the mountains and naturally vegetated slopes and ravines of the arroyo.

Team List:
Landscape Architect: RJM Design Group
Civil Engineer: MCE Consultants
Electrical Engineer: tk1sc, formerly known as Konsortum1 at time of project
Irrigation Design: Giddens Irrigation Design

 
East Village Dog Park
by Stantec Consulting

Calgary and its communities are defined by the experiences they create. The East Village Dog Park, (or as the project team affectionately refers to it, "dog bark") is the perfect example of facilitating the organic collaboration between nature and design: bringing Calgarians into the world and sharing those experiences with our closest animal allies.

Using a small, vacant, underutilized lot, the park created linkages to the recently revamped East Village, including its waterfront pathways, community gardens and family playgrounds, while enhancing the area's connection to dog-owners living downtown and increasing its livability: studies show that dog parks boost the sociability of communities, leading to dog owners being 40 percent more likely to start new friendships.

Designing for a specific user group, dogs, was a highlight for our design team as we developed play elements for canines and provided gathering spaces to stimulate social interaction. Despite being a relatively small area, vast research went into selecting the right materials to account for the challenges that are presented to canines while still addressing site accessibility for humans.

The primary surface material could not be too slippery, be extremely durable yet gentle on dogs' paws, limit the risk of overheating, and be easy to clean. All materials were to be universally accessible, but still compatible with canine habits. Care was taken to develop a planting palette that can withstand Calgary's weather, is tolerant of diverse soil conditions and non-toxic. Taking the time to understand the needs of the user groups, we were able to select the right materials, reducing maintenance costs and preserving the aesthetic of the community.

Known colloquially as 'the dog capital of the world', Calgary's off leash areas account for 17 percent of total parks space within the city. The East Village Dog Park created an urban space that celebrates nature by letting animals socialize in our downtown core. It also helps urban Calgarians realize the benefits of pet ownership; once reserved mainly for suburban dwellers, and produced a roadmap for future developments to follow.

Team List:
Architect/Landscape Architect/Designer/Artist: Stantec Consulting
Owner/Developer: CMLC

Bush Central Barkway
by Pacheco Koch

The city of Richardson, Texas, had been struggling with the high public demand for a dog park, but had extremely limited land available for its development. They tasked our design team to develop a concept for this public park, located beneath an elevated freeway interchange on property owned by the Texas Department of Transportation and energy provider Oncor.

The project scope focused on solving a multitude of challenges including safe site access, permanent restroom facilities, an accelerated timetable for both design and construction and more. The project team included city staff from planning, parks, law enforcement, animal control, and the city council. Representatives from Oncor and TXDOT were involved so that any legal considerations or necessary program adjustments could be resolved collaboratively.

To minimize potential nitrogen, phosphorus and bacterial contamination of Spring Creek, the consultant oversaw development of a grading plan that diverted all runoff to a filtration basin planted with native wetland plants specifically sized to treat the runoff prior to its release.

With differing levels of daily solar exposure across the site, multiple turf varieties were considered. A turfgrass specialist from Texas A&M University helped us develop a colorized shade study that identified optimal planting locations for each turf species; driving the final geometric plan design of the five separate dog paddocks.
The two largest paddocks function as high-traffic pet areas; one of which is always "off-line" to allow for turf recovery and maintenance. Two smaller paddocks are provided, one for small dogs and one for older or ailing pets. The remaining paddock is set aside for special functions, which provide a revenue stream to assist in defraying the ongoing costs.

User experience was another primary consideration. The central plaza area has a doggy shower, and the restrooms are equipped with collar clips to restrain pets. The adjoining parking lot is specifically designed for food trucks, grooming trucks, trainers and other pet-related services. Naming/branding/dedication rights for amenities such as benches and water fountains brought enormous value to an already tight project budget.

As prime consultant, we successfully led a large and diverse team of private and public stakeholders and developed a creative solution for productive public use of otherwise unusable private land, resulting in a very popular specialty park that will serve as an exemplar for future evaluation of public-private partnerships.

Team List:
Landscape Architect & Civil Engineer - PKCE
Geotechnical Engineer - Terracon
Electrical Engineers- Gerard & Associates Consulting Engineers
General Contractor - Wall Enterprises
Client - City of Richardson, Texas (PM - Paul Nassauer)

As seen in LASN magazine, March 2020.