The landscape architect created the masterplan, design guidelines, graphic design, theming, landscape architecture for all common and amenity areas, and is a member of the Architectural Review Committee. In addition, during each design phase, the landscape architect led La Villita's multi-disciplinary team of architects, civil engineers, structural engineers, surveyors, environmental consultants, and construction managers through project coordination as well as implementation. The landscape architect was also charged with the task of explaining, to the client, City of Irving, the Dallas County Utility and Reclamation District (DCURD), the Las Colinas Association and several other entities the benefits of this alternative development standard.

 

Successful Resolution of the Project's Program

La Villita is a 200 acre master planned community envisioned as a place that would combine the best of New Urban Design with Las Colinas' exceptional development standards and the site's unique water and park amenities. In particular, La Villita distinguishes itself through:

• Innovative master planning unified by a community philosophy and architectural vision. La Villita consists of two districts surrounding an existing 30-acre lake/canal system: an urban village to the west and a single-family neighborhood to the east. Both districts are connected by a series of parks, schools, promenades, and open spaces. The village is the urban heart of La Villita. Comprised largely of multi-family residential, first floor retail, live/work spaces, town homes, and a large civic park, the village reflects the diverse spirit of a traditional urban core. The neighborhood is home to nearly 300 single-family residences. Located within easy walking distance of the village, parks, a regional trails system and schools, the residents of the neighborhood can enjoy the best of urban living while maintaining the advantages of home ownership.
• Design Guidelines - All La Villita buildings and landscape must meet high architectural standards based on a Spanish/Mediterranean style that features tile roofs, stucco, masonry facades, arched windows, balconies and architectural details in tile wood, and stone.
• Streetscapes shaped by wide parkways, narrow roadways, on street parking, "hidden" parking lots and garages, shallow building setbacks, and tree-lined sidewalks give La Villita a comfortable urban feel and encourage walking.
• Water amenities and their unique power to attract people. La Villita is centered on the 30-acre Lago Real and its two canals. Greenbelts and walkways line all three and are designed to include plazas and other amenities. Signature bridges offer vistas of the lake and land, and three significant fountains figure prominently in La Villita's design.
• Small parks and plazas throughout the community will give residents places to gather, open vistas to lakes and parks, and provide relief from the dense development. Systems of walkways weave through La Villita and connect the parks and plazas creating a complex interwoven environment.
• Gateways to Campion Trails - a regional system of hiking and biking trails along the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, a pristine and wooded natural waterway. Campion Trails will be extended from La Villita to the existing trail that connects the Las Colinas Urban Center to south Irving. La Villita's single-family area offer stunning views of a large oxbow lake on the Elm Fork.

 

Impact and significance of the Project on the Local Community

La Villita overcame a number of significant obstacles in the creation of this unique community. It effectively reinvented a large area of land that for nearly 30 years had been master-planned and marketed for corporate campus sites, responding to the needs of the Las Colinas market for high-quality residential development that would be accessible to a broader income range that is typically found in Las Colinas. We created a community that adds a special amenity to Las Colinas, particularly to its corporate-employer base, while living up to this 12,000 acre master-planned development's legacy.

 

The final impact to the suburban community of Irving remains to be seen. However, due to the overwhelming response to this refreshing lifestyle, an additional 200 acres has been added to the original 200-acre masterplan.

 

Special or unique solutions to unusual problems

Limitations- during the planning process a number of site issues were addressed

• An abandoned concrete-pipe plant was cleaned up by contracting with a crushed-concrete company to clean up the plant at a reduced price in exchange for the materials involved.
• Major transmission lines at the projects 'front door'. Access to the site from O'Connor Boulevard was blocked by electric transmission lines. The Landscape Architect worked with Oncor, the local utility provider, to allow roadway easements and native landscaping under the lines.
• Lago Real's water level was below developable elevation. A planned dam at the south outfall of the lake, which, when completed will raise the lake level 10 feet.