We are getting close!! Kingsbury Commons is just a couple months away from completion and things are really pulling together!
Our construction crew has poured the concrete for most of the pathways, the basketball court, the Tudor Cottage, and the brand new water feature. The Tudor cottage has received a fresh coat of paint and new shingles for the roof. A lot of the plantings have been planted and the new irrigation system has been installed throughout Kingsbury Commons. Giant limestone blocks have been added to the outdoor plaza and, just today, the construction team installed the new natural timber play equipment. It’s been a tremendous and exciting journey to where we are and we can’t wait for everyone to get the chance to see all the new features!
The Tudor Cottage & Terrace
To ensure the structural integrity of the historic Tudor Cottage a new shingle roof has been added and the wooden beams that hold the building have been replaced. The northern face of the Cottage has been opened, new glass french doors will be added to let light spill in and create an indoor-outdoor meeting and gathering space and a new fresh coat of paint has been added to the exterior of the building. Concrete has been poured around the building to connect the cottage to the terrace, as well as for the accessible trail that leads to the treehouse.
The Treehouse & Bridge
The Treehouse has fur! The steel rebar skin that grows along the exterior of the sphere has been bent and welded on to mimic the “fur” found on a seed pod you could find laying on the forest floor. The rebar bends and curves around the entire structure adding a whimsical flair to the entire design. The concrete, accessible path is also now in place. The path winds from the Tudor Cottage through the hillside up all the way to the treehouse’s bridge. The bridge allows park-goers to enter the treehouse’s second story. The second story of the treehouse contains a path along the internal edge and a large net to lie on in the center and gaze up at the sky through the treehouse’s oculus. Still to come: the construction team will be adding limestone block seating at the bottom of the treehouse, firefly lighting to the top, and net lining to the center.
The Outdoor Plaza
Nestled between the restrooms and storage building is what we refer to as the Outdoor Plaza, a small, amphitheater-esque space with large limestone blocks that allow park-users to sit and work or gather and meet. We hope to utilize this space as our own meeting area for our volunteer days with volunteers sitting on the blocks to listen as group leaders go over the day’s activities. The limestone blocks have now been placed onto the hillside, along with the limestone for the ribbon wall that will wind throughout Kingsbury Commons and connect each feature.
The Water Feature
In the heart of Kingsbury Commons, and arguably our most attractive feature, at least for parents and children looking to escape the Texas heat, is our water feature. Water jets dance on the feature’s surface and a small waterfall lines its edge, the water then slowly drains into a small rocky basin that mimics an aquifer recharge zone. Recently the concrete was poured for the feature and then brushed to create a non-slip grip.
The Spring
One of the most beautiful and iconic (and the person writing this’s favorite) new features of this project is the Spring. Flowing down Parkway at almost anytime of the year is a continuous stream of water. The stream flows from a natural seep all the way at the top of hill across the street from the Tudor Cottage down straight into the creek, without watering any plants or an opportunity to feed back into the groundwater. It does not pass go, does not collect $200. As part of the Kingsbury Commons Project our design team has found a way to pipe the seep into a fountain that will then flow out into a dry creek bed and water our new native plantings and eventually seep back into the ground to be filtered by the earth and become groundwater. The fountain that collects the water has now been built and is made up of swirling limestone blocks that serve as the starting point for the ribbon wall, connecting every feature in the park together.
