Urban Designer crandall arambula - pORTLAND

Crandall Arambula allowed me to witness the role that design plays in shaping a more sustainable and exceptional future. I gained a holistic understanding of sustainable urban design and community engagement by working closely with principals to translate varying complex issues and concepts into meaningful and understandable solutions. As a graphics coordinator, and the primary graphics producer, I worked with several teams to create public involvement presentations, table maps, survey ballots, and final documents. I worked on projects ranging from Redevelopment Plans to Station Area Plans.

district planning Heritage district redevelopment plan

Over the last decade, the town of Gilbert, AZ acquired land in anticipation of a commuter rail station that would connect them to the Phoenix downtown area. Through a rigorous process of public engagement and collaboration with local stakeholders and community groups, the Heritage District Redevelopment Plan was created. Addressing a need for public space, multimodal circulation, and functional civic and retail space The Heritage District Redevelopment Plan proposes a dense urban core surrounding a plaza, supported by an arcade-lined retail street, a new residential area, and a well connected commuter rail station. Car free uninterrupted circulation routes stretch north-south and east-west, and a local street known for congestions was connected to another nearby street to both relieve some of the stress, and to activate the proposed retail street.

Collaborating with other urban designers and planners, I was involved with this project from its early conceptual phases of planning, and contributed to the public involvement, design, documentation, plan adoption, and developer selection processes. Translating sketching and drawings into detailed 3D models consisting of pedestrian centric streetscapes, shady arcades, and illustrative massing, I brought the plan into reality. From aerial buildout perspectives to more detailed sections of vital infrastructure, my model and its components were designed to create dynamic, compelling, and believable visuals. This was a valuable lesson on how to properly position individual infill development in order to achieve a much more resilient and dynamic whole.

Shortly after the adoption of the Heritage District Redevelopment Plan, the city of Gilbert, AZ successfully selected a development team to bring the North Anchor into fruition. The north anchor is the terminus of an uninterrupted pedestrian and cyclist path that connects all elements of the plan, also known as the Paseo. As the first phase of the plan the North Anchor would establish the character of the Paseo for all subsequent developments.

Initially, the proposed design presented the Paseo as a generic landscaped sidewalk, prompting the Heritage District Redevelopment Administrator to request additional illustrative materials to provide feedback. Working with these requests, I modeled and illustrated an idyllic scene that clearly featured and demonstrated the essential design elements of the Paseo, while adhering to the project design’s preferred massing, as well as the existing conditions.

The Illustrations suggest the best design solutions (such as matching the language of the parking garage to that of the office building) while clearly demonstrating the required and necessary elements of the Paseo. This provided the Implementation Committee with a vehicle to communicate their needs and desires to other designers.

Transit Oriented Development station area planning

A large portion of my time at Crandall Arambula was spent designing and illustrating two Bus Rapid Transit lines connecting to St. Paul MN. Collaborating with other urban designers and planners, I was involved with this projects from its early conceptual phases of planning, and contributed to the public involvement, design, documentation, and adoption processes. Translating sketches and drawings into detailed 3D models and more conventional technical drawings, I fit abstract concepts into the reality of the built environment. Using these models, I generated graphics intended for public consumption from illustrative maps to more evocative perspectives. Creating safe, accessible, and transit supportive environments in low density surroundings was a rigorous and fast-paced exercise in urban design, specifically transit-oriented development, that taught me how to practice good design in less than ideal environments and how to positively engage the public through honest and clear graphics. Adopted station area plans for the Gold Line will be used to inform future station area development.

Many of the stations along this alignment of the Gold Line BRT route were located at shopping centers with overly large parking lots. These stations presented an opportunity to develop new typologies for adapting underused strip mall style developments into dense, transit supportive communities.