Seven Meadows is a 1,000 acre Master Planned community in Fort Bend County, Texas. Located in one of the fastest growing counties in the United States, Seven Meadows has broken new ground in an area dominated by master planned communities (many ranging in size from 1,000 to 10,000 acres).

Role of the Landscape Architect

The Landscape Architect (LA) was also the Land Planner for this project, creating a vision for their Client based on the following principles:

1. An open Land Plan to maximize the visibility of open space and architecture.

2. A walkable community with direct access to neighborhood amenities.

3. A sustainable landscape featuring native plants, grasses, and trees.

4. An interconnected roadway plan, establishing connectivity and ease of circulation.

5. Hardscape features for visual interest and community identity.

The goal was to create an alternate experience at Seven Meadows, one that was open, scenic, and inviting to its residents.

Successful Resolution of the project's program

At the centerpiece of this goal is Long Meadow Park, a linear park of 25 acres with over a mile and a half of walking trails (Image 1). In addition to being the focal point of the community, the park is also a drainage channel that stores and conveys the runoff for Seven Meadows and adjacent neighborhoods. As envisioned by the project Engineer, it was to be a straight channel with a fifteen foot flat bottom and 3:1 side slopes, preferably located behind the housing and out of site. As envisioned by the LA, the channel would transform itself into the gathering place of the community, a meandering stream winding through gently rolling terrain with a variety of informal open spaces designed for walking, running, and biking. To accomplish this the drainage channel was moved to a central location, running alongside a major thoroughfare (Gaston Road) that threatened to bisect the project.

The LA was given the design criteria for the channel required to convey and store the water. The LA then generated a series of alternate channel sections for approval by the project Engineer. A wider drainage corridor allowed for the softening of slopes, open water at select areas, and broad flat areas for community trails (Image 2). The approved channel sections were combined with a master grading plan for Long Meadow Park and given to the Engineer. This grading plan met the drainage requirements set by the Engineer while providing the subtle berms and hollows that gave the park its natural character, providing the setting for the following layers of landscape and hardscape elements.

Special or unique solutions to unusual problems or budgetary constraints

One of the liabilities of a large park such as Long Meadow Park is the ongoing cost of maintenance. To make Long Meadow a sustainable park, more than 50% of the 25 acre park was designed as a low maintenance native prairie grass restoration. This has reduced lawn maintenance and irrigation cost, as the temporary irrigation designed to establish the native plantings was turned off after two years.

Long Meadow Park is notable for both its size and the variety of plantings. The landscape layer was applied over the grading to enhance desired spaces of the park, aiding the LA's in their effort to create a unique sense of character for the site. The planting concept (see figure 4) was to create a series of meadows along the park. The meadows at Long Meadow Park have defined edges created by dense thicket plantings of mixed pine and hardwoods, as well as aquatic plantings along the waterways. These thicket plantings used a mixture of sizes and species of native trees and understory plantings (Image 3). The aquatic plantings have become a habitat for a variety of wildlife including many wading birds. Open spaces in the meadows provided the LA with the opportunity to use large (12"-14" caliper) specimen trees for shade and as accents.

Long Meadow is a passive park, with no formal structures or athletic fields, but many hardscape elements. The two vehicular bridges, the pedestrian bridge (Image 5), garden walls (Image 10), and the stone monoliths (Image 9) act as accents to add visual interest and provide landmarks that announce entry into the neighborhoods at Seven Meadows. The vehicular bridges have detailed masonry work, each of a different style - designed to give the community a sense of time, as if it had evolved over a period rather than being built all at once. The Stone Bridge (Images 7 and 8) was clad in sandstone and provided an overlook that cantilevered over the channel. The Brick Bridge (Image 9) has a detailed brick veneer and a tree-lined plaza atop the bridge for viewing.

Impact and significance of the project on the local community or surroundings

Gaston Road is a major thoroughfare that winds through the West Houston suburbs, marked primarily by the uniformity of the driving experience. Careful pains have been taken by Land Planners and Landscape Architects to create this unoffensive, though homogenous view along this corridor. It is a study in flat roadways, privacy fencing, and uniform landscaping. Its views are of neighborhood signage and the second story rear of homes. Suddenly, for more than a mile of its length Gaston Road opens up to a landscape of gently rolling topography, a meandering stream lined with trees and native prairie grasses with jogging paths, ponds with wading birds, and attractive homes facing the boulevard. This is Long Meadow Park at Seven Meadows.