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Twin Fork Park
Observations + Analysis:
Climate and Context:
The Twin Fork Playground is a neighbourhood park situated in New Sudbury at the core of a residential area. The park sits within a naturally forested zone and presents multiple interesting features like one trail in the North-West running along its edge or Junction Creek following the Southern part (Map. 7: Twin Fork Park Context).
A pleasant feature of the park is that the crown of the trees around it provides a wind barrier as a result, not a lot of cold wind can be felt on the site. There are multiple types of wildlife (birds, squirrels, chipmunks) and the site is a very natural setting inside a neighbourhood.
Fig. 7: Crown of trees & bushes
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Map.7: Twin Fork Park Context
The bushes and the crown of trees around the park act as a natural habitat for the birds and squirrels therefore very early morning, a lot of the noises from the cars are muffled by the trees while the singing of the birds creates a peaceful and serene environment (Figure. 7: Crown of trees & bushes). It is one quality that Jan Gehl describes as an aesthetic and rich sensory experience being part of one of the 12 urban quality principles. A community garden can be spotted at the entrance of the park near the parking and it seems very used and tended by the community during the growing season. The topography and landscape of the site are interesting to be noticed with a North-East portion of the park elevated compared to the rest of the park (Map. 8: Park Amenities).
Map.8: Park Amenities
Map.9: Park Textures
The ratio between hardscape and softscape is unbalanced. About 80% of the park is softscape and 20% hardscape (Map. 9 Park Textures). An interesting observation is the usage of hardscape vs softscape. It can be noted the heavy occupation of hardscape surfaces (human-designed spaces) situated in the NE area (Map. 10 &11). In the morning things are very quiet, the place is relatively humid because of the morning dew.
It is cold that early and the flow of the people in the park is quite sparse. In contrast, during the afternoon, the place is way warmer than the morning however it is still a pleasant temperature (Figure. 8: Sudbury Humidex infographic). Because of the positions of the trees most of the shadows are mainly cast outside of the park or circulation paths. As a neighbourhood park, there aren't a lot of people on the weekday as people are potentially at work and the kids at school. The park changes dynamically in the afternoon as adults are back from work and kids from school.
Map.8: Park Amenities
Map.10: Morning Circulation
Map.11: Evening Circulation
Fig. 8: Sudbury Humidex Infographic
9 Christopher Reeves, “Twelve Quality Criteria,” Gehl, accessed November 5, 2020, https://gehlpeople.com/tools/twelve-quality-criteria/.
Demographics + Utilities:
When we focus on the demographics that use the park the most, we discover that there are way more kids than adults and that is closely related to the presence of the play structure (swings, toboggan, splash pads) (Figure. 9). The presence of the 2 play-structures offers the options for kids to play and with their parents. Therefore, because of the different play amenities, it creates a non-monotonous environment that nurtures and presents the leisure to have fun (Map. 12: Play Structure Position).
Fig. 9: Activity rate & Demographic data
The central positioning of those play structures plays a big role in the creation of triangulation. It created instances where encounters between kids and between families were spontaneous. For example in Table 1 two groups of children (G’(3) and H’(3)) started playing together after interacting with the play structures (Figure. 10 Central Play Structure, Triangulation, Tab. 1) In the same area, 3 tennis courts were used during the afternoon by the couple U(2) (Tab. 2: Tennis Court Activity). The park gives variety in terms of exercising not just through circulation (jogging) but through sports infrastructures. Like one of the 12 Jan Gehl's principles the park is set up conditions auspicious to play, recreation and interaction.
Map. 12: Play Structure Position
Fig.10: Central Play Structure, Triangulation
Tab.1: Central Play Structure, Triangulation
Tab.2: Tennis Court Activity
10 Jenny Donovan, Designing the Compassionate City: Creating Places Where People Thrive (New York, NY: Routledge, 2018),86.
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11 Christopher Reeves, “Twelve Quality Criteria,” Gehl, accessed November 5, 2020, https://gehlpeople.com/tools/twelve-quality-criteria/.
Seating:
While the amenities supporting play render Twin Fork playground as a successful park, the ones supporting sitting are not optimal. Firstly, there are not a lot of benches or ledges to sit. (Map 13: 6 Benches on Site)
Map.13: 6 Benches on Site
Map.14: Poor Bench Placement
Secondly, some of the positionings of the benches cause issues. For instance, we can witness a perfect example of the prospect refuge theory with the bench situated in the middle (Map. 14: Poor Bench Placement). However, almost no one used it because of the openness of the park which contradicts the qualities of the prospect and refuge theory. Also, the elevation change between where the bench is situated and where it's pointing toward creates an awkward view (Section. 1: Poor Bench Placement). On top of that, in the morning, in particular, that bench in the middle of the park is not really used because of the shadow cast on it preventing the warmth of the sunlight to hit that zone. All of that causes people to adapt by taking advantage of the topography. Thus, creating a situation supporting the affordance theory where people reappropriate the actual space to sit directly on the sloped ground in the exposure of the sun.
Not all the benches are wrongly placed. On the other side of the spectrum are the benches sitting against the community building, they create an edge and protection in the back and point towards the park in a slightly elevated position consequently demonstrating a better application of the prospect refuge theory. The only two other areas providing sitting amenities are the baseball benches in the central area of the park. Although their usage has been restricted, they are the only ones that offered enough sitting spaces for bigger groups and especially different ways of sitting.
Section. 1: Poor Bench Placement
12 Annemarie Dosen & Michael Ostwald, “Prospect and refuge theory: Constructing a critical definition for architecture and design,” International Journal of Design in Society. 6, (2013) 9-23, doi: 10.18848/2325-1328/CGP/v06i01/38559.
Circulation:
In terms of circulation, the paths in the park are mainly composed of gravel and concrete. Most people use them as they lead clearly to the multiple access points of the park and are comfortable for activities like biking. Having more than 2 entry points allows for dynamic circulation and connection of different sectors of the neighbourhood. Some circulations can be seen on top of the grass and explain that people tend to create their own path in order to reach a certain point quicker, that being a seating or a play structure (Map 15: Circulation) . In the morning, the main activities that are done are circulatory activities like walking the dog or jogging, the pace is higher which falls into the category of necessary activities Because of the low height of the sun, the bushes create shadows that cover one of the main paths (SE-NE) which lessen its traffic. The main traffic flow is engaged in the Northern part of the park. Where there is exposure to the sun. In the afternoon, the circulation grows and the slow down more converting into optional activities like walking or strolling. More time is spent on the trails as people stop to observe and enjoy the sun.
Map. 15: Circulation
13 Gehl, Jan. Life between Buildings: Using Public Space. (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2011).
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14 Public Space, Project for. “The Power of 10+.” RSS, 2018. https://www.pps.org/article/the-power-of-10.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, despite some inconvenient design (seating), Twin Fork Playground is a successful park because it proposes at least 10 different activities (see annex Twin Fork Playground matrix). The latest is proven by the association project for public spaces through the concept of the power of 10+ which supports the idea that public space is successful if it proposes at least 10 various activities to do.
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