“The Yard” creates spaces for healing, growth, and change by embracing a multifaceted view of health that extends beyond the physical body to the mind, city, and landscape. By combining physical, natural, and programmatic systems, The Yard nurtures the well-being of Nashville. From waterways, forests, and gardens to active sports fields to community-based classes and art, different approaches to health converge in The Yard. The organizing feature of The Yard is a new waterway for stormwater bounded by a lushly planted floodway. Currently, stormwater outlets periodically discharge into the Cumberland River because outflow pipes cannot handle large volumes of rainwater. The Yard creates an alternative path for the stormwater, one that adapts to changing volumes by controlled flooding and helps filter the runoff, improving water quality. There are two branches to this system: one helps control water sheeting off the stadium's parking lots; the other recreates a lost sub-watershed. Along the floodway, bands of vegetation expand outwards, creating vibrant, dynamic spaces for people and animals to inhabit. Each band—Wetland, Riverside, Mesic Forest, and Meadow—is representative of a native Tennessee landscape type. The Yard would create two large mounds to cap and contain contaminated earth, adding a functional and significant element of topography to the site. The larger mound serves multiple purposes: visual landmark, scenic overlook towards the river and downtown, as well as stadium for the sports fields. These fields allow for a variety of sports to be programmed at the site while the mound gives spectators an
THE YARD: Project Statement
exciting view. The smaller mound, cut by the water, divides The Yard to create space dedicated to healing the mind and the soul. A combination therapeutic and botanical garden offers a quiet respite from the city and the sports. The Yard reimagines the site's industrial past by adapting several existing structures for new programs designed to develop skills and provide recreation. Fuel tanks provide adventure recreation opportunities. A former warehouse becomes "Shop Class," a fabrication co-op open to the Nashville community dedicated to the industrial arts: metal and woodworking, mechanics, robotics, and other forms of creation. These skills are not just practical; they can be a form of artistic expression. Attached to Shop Class is an exposition park, where local artists and students from Shop Class can exhibit their work, showcasing Nashville’s creative spirit. Partnerships with schools and neighborhoods help connect people across the city and region. In order to deepen the connection between The Yard and the rest of the city, The Yard breaks down the physical boundaries that currently contain this site. New mixed-use development sites along Shelby Avenue takes advantage of this strategic area, drawing people from downtown, from farther in East Nashville, and from the stadium. Green extensions of the park on the far side of the highway link new, denser mixed-income development to The Yard's amenities and improve the cycling experience along the river. Healing is a holistic, dynamic process, rather than a simplistic cure. It is what our city needs. The Yard provides a place for this to happen, but it is the community who will shape it.
Mixed Income Housing
Ave lby She
Sustainability-Focused Charter School Forebay For Incoming Titans Parking Stormwater
Forebay for Benedict & Crutcher Sub-watershed Viewing Mound Made From Contained Soil
Nashville GreenBikes Center
Multi-Sport Fields St an Sylv
Therapeutic / Botanical Gardens
Mixed Use Development
Community / Exposition Grounds t utccher S Crru
Existing Building Renovated for Events Basketball Courts Converted Fuel Tank Adventure Playground
“ScrapYard Shop” Fabrication Co-op Davidso
n St / M
usic City
Bikeway
East Bank Greenway
Overlook / Stairs to The Cumberland
“Cayce Landing” Boat Put-In Stormwater Outlet
Increased Ped / Bike Lanes on Gateway Bridge
SITE PLAN 1”=300’
“The Yard” creates spaces for healing, growth, and change by embracing a multifaceted view of health that extends beyond the physical body to the mind, city, and landscape. From waterways, forests, and gardens to active sports fields, to community-based classes, and art, different approaches to health converge in The Yard.
A N D C U M B E R L
R R I V E
0
150
300 ft
PRECEDENTS
CIRC RCU RC UL LA AT TIO ON V hi Ve hicl cles cl es
Earthworks and Floodplain
Biike / Ped Bike d Pav aved d Bo B oarrdw dwal ak al Mowe Mo wed we d Pa P th
Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks Herbert Bayer Kent, WA
Guadalupe River Park Hargreaves Associates San Josa, CA
Mill Race Pond Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Columbus, IN
Buffalo Bayou Park SWA Houston, TX
The Dell NBW + Biohabitats Charlottesville, VA
Shanghai Houtan Park Turenscape Shanghai, China
Water Treatment Landscapes
Lake Whitney Water Treatment MVVA + Steven Holl New Haven, CT
Thornton Creek SvR Seattle, WA
Social Design / Initiatives
SITE TE ELEMENTS
Post - Industrial Sublime
Viewpoint Axis District Node Steel Yard Klopfer Martin Design Group Providence, RI
Wallabout Community Rowing Project Gasworks Park Klopfer Martin Design Group Richard Haag New York City, NY Seattle, WA
Landschaftpark Duisburg Nord Latz + Partners Duisburg Nord, Germany
Nashville Riverfront Concept Plan Hargreaves Associates
Green Infrastructure Master Plan Metro Nashville and Partners
Plans / Documents
The Plan of Nashville NCDC
THE YARD:
PRECEDENTS + ELEMENTS
Nashville Open Space Plan Metro Nashville, TN Land Trust
Many of the ideas for The Yard came from other exciting projects. We hope that sharing these will provide insight into our design as well as provide inspiration to Nashvillians. As for the elements, circulation plays a cricitical part of encountering The Yard, whether in a car, on foot, or on a bike.
STORMWATER
TREATING G RUNOFF RUNOF FF F
CONTAMINATED SOIL
Nitrates Heavy Metals
Phosphates
Water Evaporates Vegetation Filters Nitrates trates
Sediment Collects Heavy Metals Scupper
Nitrates Pond
Phosphates Wier
1909 Map of Nashville showing “Shelby Pond” where the PSC Metal yard stands today.
Industrial development on the Cumberland has left us with a toxic legacy
STORMWATER FROM STADIUM PARKING
Treating the Water: Stream to Pool
STORMWATER FROM BENEDICT & CRUTCHER
SETTLING PONDS
Basin Area 277 acres Impervious 117 ac, 42.2%
Gasworks Park in Seattle embraced industrial legacy and used capped, polluted soil to build large earthworks.
Currently, the Benedict & Crutcher basin is piped through the site, offering an opportunity for retention and treatment.
Grass Top
RESTORED FLOODPLAIN
Clay cap
NEW OUTFLOW
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
pesticide lead hydrocarbons
Contaminated soil can remain on site and be used safely when capped with an engineered lining.
Projects such as “The Dell” at University of Virginia, demonstrate how stormwater retention can create vital public space.
THE YARD:
solvents
A significant portion of our site was once covered by “Shelby Pond,” trapped behind the Cumberland’s natural levee. Eight combined sewer overflows remain Davidson County. The outlet for the Benedict & Crutcher watershed is piped through our site to the river. This Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) is responsible for 40-50 overflow events per year or a total of 90 hours (Metro Stormwater Presentation). The Yard would make the treatment of this stormwater the very spine of the design. Polluted soil is inevitable on a postindustrial site. The Yard would again, make use of this “waste” material to shape the site’s topography.
“Scrapyard” Workshop Art
“Nashville Green Bikes” Rack
Meadow Grass Mix
Mesic Woodland
Riverside Plant Mix
Boardwalk a
Flow Control Structure o
cti Se
Detail Plan 1”=32’
The Yard is a place where social and ecological health combine. Playing fields and stormwater stream corridors lie in close proximity, pressing into one another. Urban life often presents us simultaneously with beauty and pollution. In The Yard, contaminated soil and polluted stormwater runoff are foundations to a beautiful place. This tension creates more interesting and instructive landscapes.
ut nC
Multi-use Playing Field
Seating / Viewing Mound
0
32ft
SPRING
SUMMER
FALL
DRY
WET Warm Season Meadow
Tree
Plant Palette
WINTER
Shrub Grasses Perennials
Plant Zones + Seasons Section 1�=16’
Mesic Woodland
Virginia Sweetspire Itea virginica
Sideoats Grama Bouteloua curtipendula Black-Eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta
Wetland Sycamore Platanus occidentalis
Blackhaw Viburnum Viburnum prunifolium
Native Sumac Rhus sp. Little Bluestem m Rhus sp.
Riverside Vegetation
Yellowwood Cladrastis lutea
Shumard Oak Quercus shumardii
DRY
Smooth Alder Alnus serrulata Cordgrass Spartina bakeri
Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea
The Yard will be a place where the dynamic flows of time will be expressed through the water,vegetation, and fauna. Four main vegetation zones--Wetland, Riparian, Temperate, and Warm Season Meadow--reflect the frequency of inundation. In the background lies The Mound, which both screens I-24 as well as provides a unique point of panoramic prospect.
Rough-leaved Goldenrod Solidago rugosa
Common Rush Juncus effusus
SHOP CLASS
Community
Shop Class is an open fabrication shop for the Nashville community to learn practical and trade skills related to industrial art and design.
Exposition Grounds
Co-op Space
Rotating exhibits of work from Shop Class, curated by theme or season or in coordination with other city events.
Both a fabrication shop open to the community to learn skills and a small business incubator, this space can also host events and art markets.
Skills Spring Semester
SPORTS
Summer Session
Country Music Marathon
The sessions of Shop Class are tied to special sporting events, creating opportunities for partnerships.
Industrial Celebration
Bicycle Racing (Tour de Nash)
End projects of spring semester on display for marathon crowds
The Yard offers a variety of sports over the year including several seasonal leagues.
Fall Semester
End projects of summer session and celebration of industrial art
Racing provides the backdrop for a larger celebration of riding in the city. Summer session students offer bike workshops
Championships
End of season events coincide with springtime activity
Canoe
Racing provides the backdrop for a larger celebration of riding in the city.
Fall Championships
Autumn events continue to bring people to the site and compliment football season
Seasonal
Quidditch Ultimate Frisbee Bocce League Youth Football Rugby
On-Going
Field Hockey Bicycling Running Extreme Sports Low-Impact Exercise
Winter
NATURE
Spring Maintenance Day
Beginning of season outreach event that gets the park ready for spring while teaching about Nashville’s environment
The changing of the seasons creates different landscapes across the site. Special events take advantage of the plant cycles to collaborate with other holidays in Nashville.
Rainfall Highs
THE YARD: PROGRAM + EVENTS
Alder
Shumard Oak Purple Coneflower Yellowwood Blackhaw Viburnum Black-eyed Susan
Summer
Fall
Celebration of Cultures Showcase of plants from around the world help celebrate all the various people of Nashville
Sideoats Grama Native Sumac
Holiday Celebration
In coordination with Shop Class, a plant and art market for the holidays
Rough-leaved Goldenrod Sycamore
The Yard is a dynamic landscape thanks, in large part, to the wide array of programs which will be held there. The various sports accommodated on the site each have potential for their own championships. Larger sport events such as the Country Music Marathon could be incorporated. The cycles of nature also provide excitement and anticipation as different species bloom or display fall color.
Groundwork
1
• Community engagement + charettes • PSC Metals relocates operations • EPA analysis of brownfield • Clear Development Parcels • Set up “The Scrapyard Shop” nonprofit • Continue Hargreaves Master Plan by building basketball courts beneath Gateway Bridge and Cayce Landing
Construction
2
• Remove Crutcher St and realign Sylvan St. • Excavate, mound, and cap soil for the Mounds. • Excavate floodway • Reroute existing stormwater connections into The Yard • Clean Fuel Tanks / Reinforce for Occupation • Construct Roads / Paths
Seeding Change
3
• Build out development parcels • Seed and plant fields, tree grid • Open stormwater connections, fill ponds • Pedestrian Improvements to Gateway Bridge and Shelby overpass • Open “Scrapyard Workshop”
OPENING DAY ! Shaping the Future
4
THE YARD:
PHASING AND STRATEGIES
• Maintenance of Vegetation and Waterways. Invasive removal, etc. • Event Programming • Scrapyard Workshop grows • Redevelopment of Cayce Homes into mixed income housing, applying green infrastructure best practices. • Continue greenway along Cumberland.
The Yard is a complex infrastructural project. It will, therefore take many phases to reach a state of “completion.” But even after the inaugural celebrations, the job is not done. In fact, it is here that the life of the park begins. Maintenance is as important as construction.
THE YARD: Tank Perspective
The Yard offers a multitude of opportuntities for recreation and fitness. Fuel tanks can be repurposed to become an adventure playground, with excavated land forming an earth ramp to the top. Through the incorporation of these existing resources, large amounts of waste can be diverted while respecting the history and integrity of the site.
THE YARD: Paths Perspective
The meandering trails of The Yard are a functional and aesthetic treat for visitors. The combinations of boardwalks and mowed paths create opportunities for discovering various parts of the site, the city, and interesting vistas along the way. The abundance and variety of trails is encourages multiple modes of intergenerational fitness through walking, jogging, and bicycling, while maintaining connectivity into and throughout the site.
THE YARD: Shop Perspective
The ScrapYard Shop fuses together adaptive reuse of an existing building on site, with social programming to generate a space for people that want to develop and display their skills. The interior space offers individuals, in particular the youth, the flexiblity to express themselves artistically, while exterior exposition space adds the possibility of generating revenue from their various artistic works during market events.