LA 405-Park Design + Construction Documents: Fall 2023 + Winter 2024

LA 2222 (405)

Historic Park Redesign in Pismo Beach, California

Project: Students work with city planners and the nonprofit Friends of Price House to design Price Historic Park, Pismo Beach’s largest park, completing site analysis, illustrative plans, and a full construction document set. Each student created site analysis, an illustrative plan, and a construction set of a layout plan, materials plan, grading plan, planting plan, and construction details.

Student designs are the current foundation of discussion for the park at public meetings, nonprofit council meetings, and for the planning process to update the city’s park master plan.

Background: Price Park in Pismo Beach, California is multilayered in its history. Before John Michael Price, the founder of the City of Pismo Beach, operated a farm and ranch here, both Spanish and Chumash cultures were active in the area and onsite. How does a designer navigate and honor three, at times disparate, cultural histories?

The studio works to meet client needs of the City of Pismo Beach through contact with several staff members: a park planner, the chief engineer (who provided the CAD survey and planning documents), staff from the Parks and Recreation Beautification Commission (PRBC), and members of the Friends of Price House, a community nonprofit focused on historic preservation and use of the park for their gatherings.

The 4-acre park which includes a class 1 bike trail, hiking paths, orchard, and a stream restoration area sits adjacent to the Pacific Estates neighborhood in Pismo Beach. Students focus on designs for the central, one-acre space of the site, which includes an orchard, event green, and gathering area that includes the historic homes of John Michael Price and his daughter, Mary Ann Price Meherin. The city and Friends of Price House envision this space to be used for outdoor concerts, wedding ceremonies and receptions, large gatherings, and passive recreation for families.