Page 101 - Fall 2019

Pavilion within the garden.
Photo © Dan Snook Photography
Terraces and winding paths of the Twin Oaks Community Garden. Photo © ISTUDIO Architects

Citation for Universal Design project converted an overgrown, little-used, sloping patch of land
into a beautiful community garden. The facility replaces the
Twin Oaks Community Garden neighborhood’s previous community garden, which had been
Washington, DC located on the other side of Upshur Street, on the grounds of
Powell Elementary School.
One of the garden’s principal universal-design features is a
ISTUDIO Architects winding pathway of gently-sloped, ADA-compliant concrete
Structural Engineers: BEI ramps linking the various terraces. In addition to allowing access
MEP/F Engineers: Setty & Associates, Ltd. for those who cannot use stairs (not to mention gardeners using
Civil Engineers: AMT, LLC wheelbarrows), the winding path, which connects to a straight-run
Geotechnical/Hazmat Consultants: ECS Corporate Services, LLC stairway at the switchbacks, lends a crisp note of organization to the
Contractor: MCN Build garden’s design and helps showcase the individual garden beds.
The garden’s other principal universal-design feature is a
Terraces are an age-old solution for growing plants on sloped sites— group of ADA-compliant plots located near the garden’s top end,
think rice fields in Asia, Inca-era terraced settlements in Peru, or where the land is more gently sloped. The plots are designed with
centuries-old terraced vineyards in the Douro Valley of Portugal various heights and depths, in accordance with requirements from
and elsewhere in Europe. The Twin Oaks Community Garden— the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (the owner of Upshur
another project designed by ISTUDIO Architects—takes the idea Park), so that they can be used by gardeners of all sizes and abilities.
of a terraced garden and updates it with universal-design features. The project was previously covered in the Summer 2019 issue
Located in Upshur Park at the intersection of 14th and of ARCHITECTUREDC.
Upshur streets, NW, in Washington’s Petworth neighborhood, the
PROPERLY CITED 99