It’s the last Parade of Playhouses write-up this year and we’re going out with a bang. It’s Kimley-Horn people!! They’re an engineering, planning and environmental sciences firm and they’re HUGE. They work on projects across the United States and the variety is STAGGERING. We’re talking a UNLV Parking Garage, the City of Odessa Water and Wastewater Master Plan, the Legacy Trail Extension, and a historic railroad conversion in Sarasota County, Florida. They are VARIED, gang, and massive enough to support not one, but two playhouses this year.
For the 2023 Parade of Playhouses, Kimley-Horn created two innovative playhouses up for auction – The Hobbit House and Lights, Camera, Play! Each playhouse team partnered with a different construction company to bring the visions to life. Friendly competition maybe, but it’s all for a good cause and when it comes to helping children, everyone wins.
Leading the teams, Jonathan Campbell and Andy Harcar, the two co-captains of the project.
The Hobbit House
Kimley-Horn approached the philanthropic project as they do every other project — thinking about the end user. But in this case, it was a kid. They wanted to create a playhouse where kids could stand up, and that’s when they remembered kids aren’t giants and a four-foot ceiling will work just fine for most. Check.
After that, they wanted to flex their landscape-environmental side so they incorporated synthetic turf and leaned into the gopher house and ant trail vibe of it all.
They said working with the contractors was like teaming up with another set of designers. They all worked together to make the idea was the absolute best. They added dormers and stained glass and it’s SURE to be a showstopper. Just like it is every year.
Lights, Camera, Play!
The other half of Kimley-Horn worked with DFW Project Solutions and MAPP Construction in Austin. They created the vintage-inspired theater with a secret door, real seats and a popcorn machine.
As far as either one could recall, they’re the only landscape architects that designed a Parade Playhouse this year, so you definitely see those elements come to life and set these two playhouses apart.
In the past, Kimley-Horn has created some very inspired and of-the-moment playhouses including Harvest House, a real live grow garden, during the Pandemic, an Autism Awareness Playhouse with specialized activity for neurodivergent kids and Guadalu Playhouse which is just really freaking cool looking.
If you’d like to know more about Dallas CASA and the Parade of Playhouse – or purchase raffle tickets online – head here. And hurry, the parade ends July 30.
