A ribbon cutting on August 30th will realize the last piece of an exciting concept for downtown Norfolk’s Selden Market.
Already a vibrant place for up-and-coming entrepreneurs to develop and test new ideas in retail, food and art, the historic space once known as the Selden Arcade now boasts the Slover Makerspace, where anyone with a Norfolk library card can manufacture dreams. The space is outfitted with eight 3D printers, a 75-watt laser cutter, 17 Singer sewing machines and several soldering stations. The Makerspace is adjacent to Slover Library.
WPA congratulates the Slover on the space. We are excited and proud to have been a part of the process to design this place for new imaginings!
Sometimes we are so focused on our own practices and communities that we don’t stop to think that there may be worthwhile messages to share with others.
Practitioners who traveled to CNU 26: Savannah (Congress of the New Urbanism) in May learned about Norfolk’s Vision 2100. A multi-disciplinary team led and in-depth discussion on efforts to address sea-level rise and resilience to protect the city’s sweeping tidal landscape from recurrent flooding. The Ohio creek Watershed project, funded by a grant as a result of the National Disaster Resilience Competition, was featured. Presenters included Stephanie Bothwell, Urban and Landscape Design, Washington, D.C., Ann P. Stokes, Ann P. Stokes Landscape Architects, Norfolk, and WPA’s Mel Price.
WPA then headed to New York City for the AIA National Convention, June 21-23. WPA helped make eight videos for the Small Firm Exchange, dealing with such issues as attracting and retaining talent.
WPA is pleased to collaborate with Sway on our second wayfinding project, this time for the NEON District and the Downtown Norfolk Council. Check out the article here…pilotonline.com
Work Program Architects continues to be proud and honored to be a part of JT’s Camp Grom team helping to bring this camp to life. Last week was the JT Walk & Beach Party kick-off event at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront. The first renderings of the Welcome Center were presented to an invigorated and excited crowd.
WPA was excited to partner with the City of Norfolk and City of Hampton to assist in hosting the Dutch Dialogues VA: Life at Sea Level. People living in the Netherlands are surrounded by water and have suffered through flooding for centuries. Due to this experience they realized that the answer was not to build higher barriers, but to figure out how to live more naturally with water. The “Dutch Dialogues” workshops bring together Dutch engineers, urban designers, landscape architects, city planners and soils/hydrology experts and local counterparts to explore creative and innovative solutions to the challenges inherent in living in a coastal city.
WPA would like to say congratulations to our friends at New Earth Farm in Virginia Beach on their feature story ‘A Sustainable Life’ in Distinction magazine. We are excited to be working with them again on their latest hyperlocal venture: Commune Crepes.
