Turning Trail Ideas into Reality

The Pennsylvania Township News recently asked several experts and township officials about their experiences in trail planning.  John Buerkle, who heads our Parks and Recreation Studio, offered some of his advice.  To read the article, click here.

Uniting Around the Idea: Playground Fun for All

The new Kid’s Castle playground in Cranberry Township will be a truly unique place.  In fact, it is called a “Uniting Playground” because it brings many people and ideas together, including activities for children of different ages, interests, and abilities.  In addition, the playground design was organized around three main themes reflecting the developmental timeline of the Township; Yesterday (a more natural play area with farms and forested rolling hills), Today (clock tower play structure reminiscent of the Town Center), and Tomorrow (a more futuristic-looking play area with wavy poles and mobius climbers).

The new playground will be constructed near the former PlayTime Palace in Cranberry Township’s Community Park, in Butler County.   Pashek Associates created the design through the eyes and vision of the Township, by incorporating elements for children to develop physical, social, communicative, sensory and cognitive skills through play.

One of the newest technologies we are incorporating into the design are sound buttons.  These “buttons” are sensors hidden underneath the safety surface that send a signal to a nearby sound “tower” that emanates different preprogramed sounds.  A new sound will resonate from the tower every time a person steps or rolls onto the sensor.  These sounds will surely pleasantly surprise new comers.

Other features include synthetic turf safety surfacing, play stage, bongo drums, ball-rolling troughs, multiple textured pavements, and leaf and hand imprints in the playground perimeter edging.

Stay tuned for photos of the playground after construction!

County Building Green Roof Measures its Own Effectiveness

You may think of the Allegheny County Office Building, 452 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, as the place to go if you have a question about your property assessment.

But this historic building is also the site of a beautiful, functional and productive green roof, designed with the help of Pashek Associates. Green roofs benefit the local environment by reducing storm water runoff; keeping buildings warmer in winter and cooler in summer; evening out daily temperature swings; and helping to mitigate the heat island effect.

The County Office Building green roof, completed in 2010, is now growing into its role as a powerful tool for protecting the environment.

A network of sensors embedded in the soils monitor performance of this roof compared with a conventional “control” roof. The sensors measure roof temperature, soil moisture, water flow and water retention, with data collected every 15 minutes. Over time, this information will demonstrate the valuable role that green roofs can play in easing some of the damaging effects that development has on our environment.

Here is an example of the data that can be seen by visiting the monitoring website. This example compares temperatures in a one-month period on the control roof (top line) with temperatures recorded by two sensors on the green roof (bottom two lines).

The green roof includes four different types of growing conditions, and over time it will also be possible to learn through the monitoring system how each type performs compared with the others. They are:

1. Intensive – 8 to 12 inches of soil and growing shrubs and plants needing the soil depth.
2. Semi-intensive - 6 inches of soil and able to grow plants and shrubs.
3. Roll out Mat – set on 4 inches of soil, this pre-grown sedum mat provides instant cover.
4. Tray system – easy to install, pre-grown sedum and lightweight.