Bluestem is a 350-acre Signorelli Company community in the just north of Pattison, Texas. EHRA Engineering’s Planning and Visioning team first introduced the project a little over 10 months ago, but as we take a look back at the progress that we have made to this point, this project is a highlight example in illustrating the importance of collaboration and how the EHRA team works together to bring our clients’ vision to life.
EHRA’s Landscape Architectural team was involved early in the process to make sure that adequate outdoor spaces were maintained to allow the newly shaped community access to these natural areas. The team worked with The Signorelli Company from the beginning to help shape this vision for this new thriving community. The team is also helping to bring the idea of a “Pocket Park within Reach” for all the community’s residents to life.
From the moment you enter the community along Bluestem Prairie Drive, you are emersed in meandering greenspaces planted with flowing grasses, shade trees and densely planted landscape beds connected with accessible pathways.
The team began the process of designing the two plus acre recreation center site—dubbed as “The Haven”—in the end of 2024 with a discussion about which scope elements were desired and would fit within the established budget.
With the beginning of any project, the most important step is the development of a conceptual design master plan which is presented and refined to clearly identify the spatial relationships of all outdoor elements. A clear separation of highly active and passive experiences was important for this site with two main ‘hubs’ revolving around the large central pavilion and the highly active multi-purpose sport courts.
After the major design elements were located and materials, design and use areas were established, further graphics were developed to help further establish the vision. For the Bluestem Recreation Center, a 3D model was created to guide the vision using Lumion and Sketchup to further solidify the vision. The most satisfying result is when it is hard to tell the difference between the original concept graphics and the final result, which was in fact the case with this project.
Every recreation center site is unique, and for the Bluestem community we also wanted to design this amenity in a way that would best serve the community, implement native planting beds and spaces and connect to the existing pathways. As every recreation center is unique, so are its challenges. Given that Bluestem is an entirely new community, the landscape design needed to incorporate a lot of shade, both with the use of arbors and new trees. Choosing locations for seating areas and places that will grow into shaded places to escape the sun was a constant design challenge. Pocket parks and trail connectivity will be enhanced over time as the new trees mature, adding shade where previously there was none.
The success of this project was not through one individual. At EHRA, we pride ourselves on the ability to work together to bring visions to life. Coordination with our EHRA team of engineers to ensure we had all necessary elements in place before work even began was key (and is always key) to any successful project and fortifies us with the opportunity to serve our clients in the best way possible.
The amazing collaboration between the Landscape Architecture team and our fellow services also allows us to work seamlessly with our client. Working with the Signorelli Company to realize the vision of Bluestem has been a satisfying and collaborative process. When the entire development team is focused on making a great place to call home, places like Bluestem are the final result.
The Recreation Center site is currently substantially complete with only a few final touches to be ready for the community to use. The final project amenities included multi-purpose courts (Pickleball, Soccer, Basketball), a putting green, cornhole, ping pong, multi-age playground, shade pavilion, outdoor seating spaces, native landscapes and a 15-space parking lot.
While the construction of the recreation site is coming to a close, we take a step back to appreciate all of the hard work and collaborative efforts that led us to produce such a beautiful and lasting impact on a community. Seeing visions become reality is reward of the work we do, especially when adding recreation and landscape areas to communities. These site features really help define the neighborhood by carrying style, form and color deep into the development. Neighborhoods need to have a sense of identity, and our Landscape Architecture team takes great pride in creating it.
As we finish out this phase we’d like to announce that Phase 3 is kicking off! It will include several new trail and pathway connections, additional landscape spaces and four additional pocket parks to further serve the community and establish a neighborhood that is well on its way to being one of the most successful in this up and coming area.
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