Looking for more? Be sure to check out our e-learning platform, The Wood Institute. It provides free, on-demand content from Think Wood, WoodWorks, and the American Wood Council, including 100+ CEU courses accredited by AIA, ICC, GBCI, and others.

What is Participatory Design?

Participatory design is the idea of directly engaging users in a design process. An article on regenerating public spaces defines it as: “ the model of direct involvement of different social groups in the design from functional tools to environments, social institutions and businesses.”

Design choices can have big impacts on community wellness—a well-designed building or public space can foster a sense of belonging by creating third places between work and home that invite social connection and interaction.  In particular, participatory design invites community engagement and responsibility. By centering the community at the heart of the design process, participatory design, can foster community ownership and pride.

The Basics of Place

The principles of placemaking provide tools to transform our public spaces into places. What are some placemaking basics?

1. The community is the expert—people who frequent public spaces know intimately and intuitively how the area functions; what could be improved; and who uses the space and for what purpose.
2. Design of the space should facilitate programming, active use, multipurpose functionality and economic opportunity—design is important but shouldn’t supersede functionality.
3. If you want to know what makes a community place, take some time to observe. For creative city dwellers, a curb can be an excellent meeting place, greeting space—or even a clam cooking hotspot.

Placemaking can revitalize underused urban areas, inviting social connections between diverse citizens and demographics.

Just last month, Think Wood teamed up with Hanley Wood, publisher of Architect, Builder and Multifamily Executive, to talk with developers and design teams about how timber is taking their projects to the next level.

Download our white paper to discover the benefits these firms are realizing with wood construction. From the opportunity to boost sales and lease rates, to the potential for cost savings and speed, wood construction presents several market advantages.

“We were able to get an extra level into the building by using a mezzanine, which doesn’t technically count as a floor. Essentially, it made it into an eight-story building,” says Kyle Peterson, associate principal at TSM. “Our area of expertise is looking at what we can do, within the allowances of the code, to maximize yield for our clients.”

Additional Case Studies

That’s not all. Be sure to download our white paper to read more about a Denver-based project that achieved a bold aesthetic while saving time and money with a panelized prefab wood design and a Quebec-based project that takes timber to a new level, 13 stories, to deliver a 94- unit condominium that soars 135 feet into the skyline.

When the newest owner purchased the home in 2013, the entire structure needed work. After spending a few years on the interiors, the homeowners began work on the exterior earlier in 2017. One of the final projects on the list: replacing the pergola with a structure that not only supported the building’s style but also the pair of 60-year-old trumpet vines that grew as a verdant canopy over the space.

The family knew they wanted to use as many natural products for this outdoor installation as possible. Because redwood is naturally resistant to decay and termites, they were confident that the redwood could be left unfinished and remain in good condition for decades; an important consideration for preserving the health of the trumpet vines.

Doing research, the homeowner determined that redwood construction heart 3×12, 8×8 and 8×12 timbers – some cut to lengths as long as 20 feet – would be the best structural support for those tree-like trumpet vines. Before work could begin, contractors had to build a scaffolding to suspend the trumpet vines over the space to give enough clearance for the installation crew to do its work.

And there they stood, for four months while the team opened up exterior walls to bolt the metal braces and timbers into place. In addition to the pergola design, contractors also had to reinstall the outdoor lighting that was hardwired into place, replace the columns that the pergola rested on, and re-stucco the exterior where holes were made for the brackets.

With the re-stucco project on the remaining two sides of the home completed, the homeowner has a classic Hollywood Hills piece of history to enjoy, honoring the building’s past, but built for a long and beautiful future.

To get started on your own redwood project or for more information on redwood visit:  http://www.calredwood.org/