Drafts and Iterations: Part 1

It is always fascinating to watch an idea come to life. The excitement and possibility of turning thoughts, ideas, and conversations into physical reality is one thing that drives many designers. The final product is usually very far from the initial concept, especially if there are many stakeholders involved.

The Filbert Street Orchards started out with a tree house theme. This work was done in Sketchup, my preferred weapon of choice, and even though it is a loosely rendered model, it still is meant to be a sketch.

This version involved much more carpentry. Also, the natural grade of the site is around 4%, which made some of the seating elements a little more challenging. The core seating element involved this informal lounges that I called the Treehouses (see below). They were to be built around the existing trees and make for interesting, lounge seating and planting beds. This design was based on an original drawing of the site that featured several mature Black Locust Trees. Upon our first visit to the site, we saw that several trees had been damaged and removed during recent construction. Thus, the Treehouses at Filbert Street no longer made sense.