How Gipson Play Plaza leads the way in sustainable urban design
When it comes to fostering sustainability, transforming community environments into eco-friendly spaces is more than just “a walk in the park”—it’s a step toward a healthier planet for everyone. Integrating sustainable practices into community parks helps mitigate the effects of climate change, conserves resources, and promotes community well-being.
Of course, it’s much easier said than done. With limited funding, space limitations, and a desire to preserve natural landscapes, parks often face numerous challenges that can hinder progress. Leaping these hurdles requires innovative solutions, strong partnerships, and a long-term commitment from the community. As an example of this, look to Dix Park, a 308-acre urban park located in Raleigh, N.C., and one of its current projects, Gipson Play Plaza.
Gipson Play Plaza, set to open in spring 2025, sits along the park’s southern edge, creating a new main entrance and pivotal destination for Dix Park. It aspires to be an inspiring public space for all ages with one-of-a-kind play spaces, a civic plaza, fountains, gardens, and areas for cookouts and relaxation with family and friends.
As the first major project from the Dix Park Master Plan, the Gipson Play Plaza is a collaboration between the City of Raleigh, Dix Park Conservancy, and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA), and will be built with top priorities of sustainability and preservation. Through a plethora of sustainability-first decisions, the history of the site will be honored while ensuring the long-term viability of the park and the community.
Green Stormwater Infrastructure
Gipson Play Plaza will incorporate advanced green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) to create a sustainable, community-friendly environment. The benefits follow:
- Improves water and air quality
- Reduces urban heat island (UHI) impacts
- Lowers energy consumption
- Creates wildlife habitats
- Beautifies neighborhoods and parks
- Reduces infrastructure costs
- Minimizes flooding impacts.
GSI elements, like bioretention areas, permeable pavements, a cistern, and a stormwater wetland, are included in the project.
Gipson Play Plaza’s “Watermill Mountain” is a mill-inspired water play space. Water emerges from a stone fountain and flows downhill through the mill house and many different shallow pools and channels to the “Sand Bowl,” a sand play area that is kept wet so visitors can make sandcastles or whatever they can imagine. Once the water seeps to the underlying drains, it is collected into a large underground cistern. Water in the cistern is then used to irrigate the planting areas throughout the plaza.
In the parking lot, the central spaces are placed on permeable pavers. When it rains, the pavers allow water to soak into the ground. If it becomes saturated, the excess water flow spills into planted bioswales with a soil structure and into a plant selection designed to hold water on-site and slowly release it downstream. The parking lot helps downstream communities manage floodwaters, mitigate temperatures on hot summer days, and create a welcoming green space for visitors.
These sustainable elements are part of a broader initiative by the City of Raleigh to incorporate GSI in urban spaces, creating healthier ecosystems while enhancing recreational spaces for the community.
Plantings Of Native Trees And Grasses
Stemming from the Dix Park Master Plan, the range and character of Gipson Play Plaza draws from the richness of North Carolina’s natural environment. From the Coastal Plain to the Piedmont and the Appalachians, the state includes a diversity of geologic formations, plant communities, and habitats.
In particular, Dix Park and Raleigh are located near the Fall Line—a zone where the hard rock of the Piedmont mingles with the softer sediments of the Coastal Plain.
“Proximity to this geologic feature, combined with an advantageous climate, allows the Triangle Region to support over 20 native-plant communities. Yet that diversity is absent from the Dix Park site today,” says Hillary Archer, senior associate at MVVA, the landscape architecture firm that consulted on the project.
During the design phase for the project, MVVA worked closely with City Parks Horticultural Staff, focus groups, and the Community Committee, which included numerous local horticulturalists, in the selection of native-plant species. The consensus was that incorporating native plants and flora diversity would establish an authentic, resilient landscape for the plaza.
Comments about native planting submitted by the community frequently skewed positive.
The design team’s direct response to this was proposing a raised, garden bed patio at the House of Many Porches, acres of Piedmont Prairie native landscape along Lake Wheeler Road, the botanically diverse Woodland Gardens, the wet meadows in the parking lot and Stormwater Wetland, and many more.
Tree Preservation
At Gipson Play Plaza, preserving the site’s historic trees, some over 100 years old, was a key priority. The design team carefully planned to protect these trees, particularly the majestic willow oaks and the pecans. By building the design around these iconic trees, the park honors its natural heritage while integrating modern recreational spaces.
“The giant, old-growth, existing trees on-site are some of the most beautiful and defining qualities of Gipson Play Plaza,” says Archer. “These trees are the epitome of landscape history and are some of the main elements that make this project extremely unique to Raleigh. They shape and anchor the space in ways that are impossible to recreate.”
Preserving these existing trees and investing in their long-term care is critical to maintaining this iconic identity at Dix Park, while also maintaining healthy ecosystem structure and function, supporting urban wildlife, improving air quality and property values nearby, creating localized areas of shade, comfort, and cooler microclimates in the summer, and enhancing beauty year-round. City Parks’ capital investments in arborist care for these trees over the years are a testament to their value not only in the plaza but also in Dix Park and Downtown Raleigh.
Reclaimed Wood From Park Trees
Rather than disposing of felled trees, the Gipson Play Plaza project transforms them into valuable materials to enhance the park’s design and visitor experience. The salvaged wood will be used for various features within the play plaza, including custom park furnishings, sculptures, and play structures, allowing these trees to retain a meaningful presence.
“The beautiful mature trees at Dix Park are one of its greatest features,” says Kate Pearce, executive director at Dix Park. “Preserving trees is a priority in the park, but when a tree does come down, using the wood to create new park amenities is a way to honor the natural history of this place.”
Dix Park worked with a local company, Raleigh Reclaimed, to craft benches and tables for the Picnic Grove from felled trees. The Picnic Grove is an area where families can cook out and recharge. Among other custom elements designed with and fabricated by Raleigh Reclaimed, the wood will be used as arch trellises and kitchen garden planter boxes for the House of Many Porches Market, a place where visitors can relax in rocking chairs and enjoy a meal together. By repurposing this wood, the park not only reduces waste but also adds a meaningful connection to the site’s natural history in its new designs.
Green-forward Transportation
Gipson Play Plaza promotes sustainable transportation by incorporating electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and bike share stations within the park. These features encourage visitors to choose eco-friendly travel options, reducing the park’s overall carbon footprint. By making sustainable transportation convenient and accessible, Gipson Play Plaza supports Raleigh’s broader environmental goals and fosters a greener, more connected community.
“Parks are infrastructure and are a critical component to transportation and environmental systems. Dix Park’s development improves connections between Downtown Raleigh, North Carolina State University, greenways, and neighboring communities to each other,” says Dean Perry, senior planner at Dix Park. “We strive to keep sustainability and resilience central to any new projects and improvements to the park.”
As cities around the world grapple with the challenges of climate change, rapid urbanization, and dwindling green spaces, sustainability-focused, public-park infrastructure offers a roadmap for the future. Designing for sustainability helps address the long-term challenges faced by communities anticipating growth and change amid overlapping ecological and political systems. Dix Park’s commitment to sustainability in Gipson Play Plaza exemplifies how parks can be catalysts for positive environmental change, showing that even in the heart of urban environments, nature and human development can coexist harmoniously for generations to come.
