(Left to Right) Jerund Sanders, Jennifer White, Adeyinka Ariwajoye, & Sheree Sparks Standing in front of Competition Boards
(Left to Right) Taneij'a Baldwin, Adeyinka Ariwajoye, Eric Wang, Jerund Sanders, Kaleb Jenkins, Jordan Glass, and Jennifer White holding Site Models in front of the National Katyn Memorial in Baltimore, Maryland
AIA Houston Gulf Coast Green Student Design Competition
2nd Place & Audience Choice Award (Spring 2024)
The Gulf Coast Green Competition seeks student submissions for a graphic site plan aimed at connecting the Houston Zoo to Hermann Park via a public park at Parking Lot G. The envisioned park, spanning about 2.3 acres, aims to complement the Zoo by providing a green space conducive to hosting intimate-scale events aligned with the Zoo's programs and mission. The site currently comprises surface parking for approximately 200 spots and has an existing impervious cover of around 95%. Access to the proposed park can be gained from Parking Lot F or Hermann Park Dr.
Collaborators: Adeyinka Ariwajoye, Jerund Sanders, Sheree Sparks
Aerial View of Proposed Site Intervention
Taking over the old parking lot in front of Lake Plaza, this new park allows for parking and recreation by using verticality to free up the ground plane and create new green spaces. The parking system is fully underground, allowing for new spaces like a pavilion, walking paths, and popup areas that can support vending and events related to the zoo and the public. Some interventions we implemented to reduce flooding and improve watershed management were bioswales, terracing, a retention pond, drainage systems, and maximum permeable surfaces. The park takes inspiration from Houston's adjacency to the Aeronautical and Space industry by having "The Star" pavilion that caps the central axis of the park as a new focal point that will draw eyes from all directions while still allowing views through to the lake and the zoo.
Proposed Site Plan
Existing Site
Sun Path Diagram
Site Circulation Diagram
Site Sections
Parking Plan
Site Terracing
The STAR Pavilion
Site Terracing Onlooking the Retention Pond and STAR Pavilion
Competition Board 1
Competition Board
Barbara G. Laurie Student Design Competition - The Exchange
(Fall 2024)
The Barbra G. Laurie Student Design Competition tasked students with reimagining the Highway to Nowhere (I-40) corridor in West Baltimore as a transformative multi-modal transit hub and community center. The 2024 theme, The Exchange, focused on creating a vibrant space that fostered cultural, economic, and social connections while addressing the historical inequities and displacement caused by mid-20th-century urban renewal projects.
Participants proposed master plans and architectural designs for a multi-modal transit center that served as a nexus for transportation, community engagement, and sustainable urban development. The project integrated the adaptive reuse of the historic American Ice Company building, the establishment of affordable housing, and the creation of equitable community spaces that honored and uplifted the local culture.
Collaborators: Adeyinka Ariwajoye, Taneij'a Baldwin, Jordan Glass, Jerund Sanders, Eric Wang
S.T.I.T.C.H.
(Stimulating. Thriving. Interactive. Transformative. Community. Healing)
The S.T.I.T.C.H. project is a bold initiative designed to reconnect Harlem Park. Through thoughtfully designed green spaces, affordable housing, and community hubs. The project stitches together the neighborhood's fractured northern and southern fabric through key elements like a transit hub for connectivity and pedestrian pathways that encourage movement and interaction. S.T.I.T.C.H. also aims to create community-centered sustainability through the implementation of multi-generational spaces, featuring a designated community center in the historic American Ice Building. This center will include daycare facilities, community spaces for the older residents, community kitchens, community gardens, coworking spaces, athletic courts, and artisan studios. S.T.I.T.C.H. aims not only to honor Harlem Park's vibrant history but to offer a vision for its future, restoring unity throughout the community and creating opportunities for growth and development for all the wonderful residents who call Harlem Park home.
1600+
Vacant Buildings in Baltimore
7.3+
Vacant Properties for each Unhoused Person in Baltimore
1400+
Vacant Lots in Baltimore
Black families displaced by the I-70 expansion, also known
as the "Highway to Nowhere"
2400+
Number of Public Housing Units that have been Displaced
by the Housing Authority of Baltimore since the year 2000
Education & Demographic Statistics
Education Stats of West Baltimore
No High School (28.55%)
Some High School (28.55%)
Some College (23.51%)
Associate's Degree (7.05%)
Bachelor's Degree (21.36%)
Graduate Degree (16.49%)
Racial Statistics of Harlem Park
Black (83.16%)
White (11.39%)
Mixed Race (1.89%)
Asian (1.47%)
Other (1.11%)
Native American (0.60%)
Pathway & Green Space Diagram
Building Vacancy Diagram (Red Buildings = Vacant)
Sun Path Diagram
Proposed Site Plan
Proposed Site Intervention
(Left to Right)
Train Station, Community Center (Adaptive Reuse of the American Ice House), Affordable Apartments, Community Library, Affordable Housing Units and Storefronts, Jazz Museum
Community-Based Housing Interventions
Affordable Multifamily Housing Units | Public Facilities | Local Retail
Project Phasing Plan
Site Section (North)
Rendering of Site Walkthrough
Competition Boards
