Ed Barsis Park at Four Hills Village

About

Located in a part of Albuquerque, NM that previously lacked public parks, the Ed Barsis neighborhood park is an inviting ecosystem of play that provides children and adults with limitless sense of connection and exploration.

Categories Place Botanic & Arboretum Parks & Play Spaces Recreation

Project Details

Overview

This project is a neighborhood park that is approximately 1 acre. It is in a part of town that did not have any public parks and was designed to be a different kind of space. The distinct feature of the park is that the entire space is designed to be a complex ecosystem of play that fosters a limitless sense of connection and exploration. Dense tree plantings, natural boulder edgers, loose materials, such as small stones to decorate, and changes in elevation invite children to creatively go beyond the designated paths and playground equipment.

The City of Albuquerque led the effort to rethink what a park looks like and how it functions, eagerly encouraging a different approach to design. The neighborhood demographics were changing as young families were moving into older houses, so residents embraced a new approach that has become the center of community activity. Children are challenged to find new discoveries in a place that encourages engagement with nature.

The project won a New Mexico ASLA design award in 2018.

Construction Details

Design Firm
Pland Collaborative

Project Managers
Greg Miller

General Contractor
City of Albuquerque

Start Date
July 2014

End Date
June 2015

The park’s pathways, including naturalized paths and a flat, wooden jig--zag foot bridge are lined with dense trees and foliage.

Vibrant plants and trees with fall foliage border a playground. The playground colors are muted in shades of green and browns.

A well-developed concrete path leads to a bench area. Natural materials are incorporated into the construction to create unique experiences.

A playground is nestled in an enclave of plants and vegetation. A bench is located to the left of the playground.

Various sizes and shapes of small rocks are decorated with visitors’ chalk drawings.

A concrete path leads to a playground surrounded by plants. An adult who is sitting and young child who is standing are in the background.

Rendered plan - A colorized drawing of the Ed Baris Park plan. The design features winding paths and play nodes that encourage exploration and discovery

Funders & Supporters:

Owner - City of Albuquerque
David Flores Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Department
Laurie Firor Division Manager Parks and Recreation Department
Dave Simon, Director Parks and Recreation Department

Recent Case Studies

A girl, equipped with climbing gear, glances down and beams with pride as she scales a rocky slope that is completely vertical. Her body, which boasts a straight and confident posture, is supported by a harness that leads to the top of the slope. The sky above is a muted blue color, with wisps of clouds trailing by.

Program

Brown Girls Climb INC

With a focus on mentorship, education, and community building, Brown Girls Climb creates opportunities for women and non-binary individuals of color to connect, learn, and thrive in climbing through indoor gym meetups, outdoor climbing workshops, and more.

A group of volunteers hike in a line along a thin trail as they make their way to their work site, where they will be doing trail work for the day. Thin trees cover the trail ahead of them, and in the distance are the silhouettes of vast mountains. The clear blue sky overhead promises a sunny day.

Program

Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation

The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation helps volunteers of all ages to develop a land ethic and give back to the wilderness by opening trails, restoring heavily used areas, maintaining historic structures, and fighting weeds in Montana’s 1.6 million acre Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

An aerial view of the garden, with the multi-story Unicare Bakke hospital in the background. Groves of mature, leafy trees flank the vertical axes of the rehabilitation garden.

Place

Unicare Bakke Hospital Rehabilitation Garden

The 6000 square meter Unicare Bakke Rehabilitation Garden was designed to create a more accessible and useful outdoor environment for therapists and their patients receiving physical rehabilitation based on evidence collected from survey research.