Title: Tanyard Park
Location of Proejct: Pensacola, Fl
Project Completion Date: December 6, 2021
Firm Name:

Short Description: The goal of Tanyard Park is to reclaim the historically African American residential area, restore the post-industrial site, and revive the disproportionately impoverished African American community in Pensacola, Florida. The entire park is elevated for seasonal flooding and creates a gathering space on the ground level for the community. Shaded fields produce cauliflower, bell peppers, and tomatoes for resident consumption. Paved sidewalks create a walkable connection between Corinne Jones Park and the recently reopened Bruce Beach. The park itself will be entirely self-sustaining, incorporating both active and passive strategies, including both solar and wind energy conversion and produce cultivation onsite.

Architect's Statement: Pensacola, Florida is a hotspot for hurricane hits over the last 20 years. The site is less than 1000 feet from Pensacola Bay, making it susceptible to hurricane strength winds, flooding, and rain. Contrastingly, Pensacola has an average of 224 sunny days per year. Due to these extreme conditions, Tanyard Park takes a sustainable approach in the design of the building, which is apparent in the elevated program, solar roofs, EWICON wind energy converters, and floodwater retention ponds. The concept of Tanyard Park was developed in response to the high percentage of impoverished African Americans in Pensacola. While African Americans make up only 28% of the overall population, they account for 53% of those impoverished. Tanyard Park provides housing for those impoverished and historically displaced. On the topic of energy, solar panels produce 190% of the energy required by Tanyard Park each month. Because of this excess and additional power generation by the EWICON wind energy converters, Tanyard Park is tied to the Pensacola power grid to provide access to energy from renewable resources. In addition to elevating the building form in anticipation of flooding, the site of Tanyard Park also utilizes floodwater retention ponds capable of collecting over two million gallons of flood water. To revitalize the currently barren lot, the park hosts many native plants of the Florida panhandle. Palm trees, saw palmettos, and beach sunflowers among many others will live in Tanyard Park. A beach breeze is encouraged through the park’s envelope with operable windows and outdoor spaces. Tanyard Park is unique in that water is the largest resource available and one of the biggest challenges for the design. As previously mentioned, hurricanes hit Pensacola and surrounding areas every two years. To combat flooding, Tanyard park is elevated 15 feet. Over 1.5 million gallons of rainwater are collected from rooftops, stored in underground cisterns, pumped through a reverse osmosis filtration system, and finally pressurized and distributed via the central water tower. With the site’s proximity to the ocean, Pensacola’s average humidity at 72%, and its peak temperature around 90 degrees, building materials were selected to endure humidity, heat, and salt water. Selected building materials include moisture-resistant concrete, galvanized EAF steel for columns, and polycarbonate sheeting, brick, and reclaimed wood as exterior siding. Pensacola is home to an industrial economy, so these materials can be transported from production factories less than 20 miles away. A major social issue in Pensacola is affordable housing. Tanyard Park not only educates residents and community members on real estate literacy and gentrification, but it is designed to increase its housing capacity by 25% if housing costs rise. Tanyard Park invests in the economy of Pensacola by hosting a market every weekend. Tanyard Park cultivates and sells fresh produce, including bell peppers, tomatoes, cauliflower, and broccoli, which are unique to shaded climates. Community members are welcome to share their artistry, food, and other handmade goods at the market. To decrease energy usage, Tanyard Park employs the southern façade with a mostly glass exterior to invite daylight inside. Alternatively, two solar roofs deliver shade to the ground level, exterior circulation, and growing fields. Passive cooling is achieved using a vertical louvered brick system makes the amount of incoming daylight a user-adjustable feature. An acoustic barrier of native plants prevents downtown Pensacola noise from encroaching on the park. These plants provide fresh air to residents where a waste treatment facility once polluted the air onsite. Residents of Tanyard Park enjoy user-specific spaces, including family-oriented apartments, a central haircare space, and a non-denominational outdoor worship space. The goal of Tanyard Park is to serve low-income African American families for generations to come, so the park was designed for adaptability. In addition to preparing for a 25% increase in housing over time, the park invests in residents with education courses on real estate literacy and the effects of gentrification. This new local knowledge will discourage future attempts to gentrify and revitalize the African American community of Tanyard. The park will continue to be self-sustaining; after the current crops have removed necessary nutrients from the soil, a plethora of Florida grown produce will be planted. Along with using new sustainable technologies, like the EWICON wind energy converter, the idea of Tanyard Park encompasses a new concept of counteracting past environmental injustices with a project that will continue for generations. The park embraces the history of Pensacola and the Tanyard neighborhood – both good and bad – to provide a new type of housing for those most in need. Tanyard Park equips its users with the necessary elements to rebuild a flourishing community where one once stood. The components of this project, from designing with the environment instead of against it to understanding specific needs of this neighborhood, taught us about the important role architecture plays in individual communities.