Confair Design will be displaying our most recent community-based design work at LEVERAGE: A Celebration of Design and Community. Come say Hello! We'd love to discuss this master plan we developed for Dobson Elementary School's outdoor space, and new ways we can collaborate on future work for public space that supports public health.
Confair Design Concludes Master Plan Development for Dobson Elementary School
This month marks the culmination of Confair Design's master plan project for Dobson Elementary School through the Community Design Collaborative. The final report provides the necessary existing conditions information, drawings, perspectives, plans and narratives to use for grant applications and fundraising efforts. Ed and Amy will to continue supporting the school community to implement the proposed design.
Amy Coauthors Chapter in New Public Health Textbook
Health Behavior Change in Populations is a new textbook designed to teach students and practitioners strategy with an emphasis on the application of theory and research to practice. Amy helped write and edit chapter 8 titled, "Behavior Change at the Environmental Level." Check out the book here.
HERITAGE COMMONS - Preliminary Design Revealed At 2nd Dobson Task Force Meeting
The preliminary plan was met with much enthusiasm at the second task force meeting at Dobson Elementary School. Teachers, parents and community members showed excitement and appreciation for the completeness of the plan and all the aspects that were incorporated from their original brainstorming meeting. This plan brings elements of sustainability, watershed education, stormwater management, and community level health to Dobson and the surrounding Manayunk area.
Scarecrows In The Garden
It is always fun and interesting to see how a design grows and evolves over the years. It is especially rewarding to see the inventive ways in which a space can be programmed and used in unexpected ways....like scarecrows in a garden! Click on the photo to see more photos from our latest trip to the OTR Garden
Confair Design Leads Dobson Elementary School Task Force Meeting
As part of Confair Design's masterplan work with the Community Design Collaborative, Amy and Ed led a Task force meeting with the Dobson Elementary School community. Attendees included teachers, parents, grandparents, administrators, and community residents. The purpose of this meeting was to elicit project goals and a wishlist from the community. To develop a comprehensive masterplan for this school, Confair Design and the rest of the volunteer team recognize the importance of community input and participation. The team presented site plans, aerial photography, and precedent images to spark a series of brainstorming sessions. Dot voting, as shown in the photos above, helped prioritize the many ideas from this engaged group. Next up - incorporating these prioritized community goals in our preliminary draft of a masterplan and soliciting feedback from other volunteer design colleagues.
Community Design Collaborative Selects Confair Design To Lead A School Master Plan Project
The Community Design Collaborative selected Confair Design to lead the volunteer project team working with James Dobson Elementary School in Manayunk (Philadelphia). This project began with a kick-off meeting today. Check back for updates as we continue working on this for the next 6 months.
Confair Design Begins Volunteering For Community Design Collaborative
Both Ed and Amy signed up to be volunteers for the Community Design Collaborative. The Collaborative is a Philadelphia community design center that provides pro bono design services to local non-profits. Confair Design looks forward to working on new projects with new partners through this program. Watch this space for future announcements.
OTR Workday
Ed was back in the garden at Over The Rainbow to oversee new plantings and check what plants were emerging now that spring is finally here.
OTR Spring Clean Up
Ed went to Over The Rainbow Nursery School to assist parents and staff with the spring clean up of the children's garden. Ed will be making trips regularly to the garden to assist with developing best practices for care and maintenance throughout the year.
Confair Design Helps Watsessing School With Dr. Suess Grant
Dr. Suess' Lorax Spruce Up Your School Grant is a program to fund schools who wish to beautify their surroundings in the spirit of the Lorax. Confair Design worked with the kindergarten class at the Watsessing School in New Jersey to envision ideas to improve the appearance of one of their main entrances.
Transportation-Public Health Link Slogan Ideas
T-PH Link is a cross-disciplinary brand and professional concept that became a free standing limited liability company (LLC) in 2014. They hosted a contest to crowdsource ideas for a new slogan and Confair Design happily contributed to the effort.
Winter Interest At OTR Children's Garden
The Children's Garden at Over The Rainbow Nursery School features plants that have year round interest. Click the image above to see what is up in the garden in mid-January.
Fall At OTR Children's Garden
Confair Design checked in on the Children's Garden at Over the Rainbow to see how the fall interest was looking. Click the image above for more images.
RWJ Foundation Pitch Day
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored Pioneer Pitch Day in October 2013, an opportunity for innovators with ideas for transforming health and health care to pitch their ideas to an esteemed group of judges and RWJF program staff. The online Call for Proposals was open to wide-ranging ideas, and Confair Design submitted this short proposal.