If we were to write an essay, “My Summer Vacation,” a highlight would be attending the opening of JT’s Camp Grom on June 10. This new Virginia Beach adventure park was created especially for wounded veterans and their families, the families of fallen military heroes, and children and adults with disabilities.
This unique experience, a vision of the YMCA of South Hampton Roads and the Virginia Gentlemen Foundation, is a place for fun, healing and hope, allowing those in wheelchairs and with other special needs to engage in a full range of outdoor activities. WPA is proud and honored to have been part of the team helping to bring this idea to life.
Located on a 70-acre parcel of land on Prosperity Road, the camp includes a Welcome Center, Wellness Center, Amphitheater, Cafeteria and Tiki Café, lake with fishing pier, Adventure Ropes Course, and an Aquatic Center featuring a Splash Park and Flowrider – surfing/body boarding attraction.
WPA designed the Welcome Center and Canopy Connections, contributing more than $130,000 in pro-bono design services to the project.
The 4,000-square-foot Welcome Center houses offices for the YMCA and Virginia Gentlemen Foundation, a boardroom, reception area, first aid center, and locker rooms.
We’re very excited to announce that WPA, in association with Rhiza A+D and Piece of Cake Productions, has been selected by the City of Virginia Beach – Office of Cultural Affairs to design, fabricate, and install a piece of interactive temporary public art at Rudee Inlet Loop. Drawing inspiration from the vivid Walt Whitman poem of the same name, “World Below the Brine” will simulate the ever-changing shore, above and below the water’s surface by creating an canopy that both captures the wind and translates the sun into a “play of light through the water.” The piece consists of a tall steel framework anchored by four concrete benches and supporting a torqued stainless steel wire grid on which 200 painted metal paddles with cast glass counterweights will pivot in wave-like motion as breezes pass through. During the day, visitors will walk below the piece and be covered in moving diffused light and shadow. At night it will be illuminated with LED lighting that will respond to the movements of visitors, creating the visual of a floating anemone visible to passers-by from Atlantic Avenue and the nearby Rudee Inlet Bridge. “World Below the Brine” will debut this September and remain through the Spring of 2020. We are also excited to share that AP Art students from Virginia Beach City Public Schools will be lending a hand with fabrication and installation right at the beginning of their first semester, and that Lynch Mykins will be our structural engineering partner. Stay tuned here and on our Instagram @wpa_norfolk for updates on our progress.
WPA is proud to announce that Jeremy S. Maloney has founded Altruistic Design in Virginia Beach. In keeping with his mission, Jeremy has built Altruistic Design on a platform of socially responsible architecture. If you’ve worked with Jeremy before, you know that he loves all parts of the design process from finding the perfect project fit, to programming, design, detailing, and contract administration. We will miss seeing Jeremy in our office every day, but are happy that we will continue to collaborate on our existing projects. We know that by expanding the choice in great design firms in this area, we can build a better connection between the NEON District, the Vibe District, and the region as a whole. Please send Jeremy your congratulations!
We are pleased to share the news that Yuzhu Zheng, Up studio, who does much of our architectural photography, has her own show opening Nov. 8, 6:30-8 p.m., at the Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library in Virginia Beach.
The exhibition, featuring both architectural work and landscape images, will hang throughout the month of November. Yuzhu is an architect as well as a photographer. She has photographed many projects for Work Program Architects, Including award winning projects. We congratulate her accomplishment!
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.
Work Program Architects is proud and honored to be a part of JT’s Camp Grom team helping to bring this camp to life. Camp Grom is located in the City of Virginia Beach on a 70-acre parcel of land on Prosperity Road. The Virginia Gentlemen Foundation envisioned a place where wounded veterans and their families – and kids with all types of disabilities and their families – could have fun, heal and enjoy outdoor activities: a day camp fully accessible to those in wheelchairs. The camp will include a Welcome Center, Wellness Center, Amphitheater, Cafeteria and Tiki Café, Lake with fishing pier, Adventure Ropes Course, Aquatic Center which will include a Splash Park and a Flowrider – surfing/body boarding feature. Clark Nexsen and WPL completed the master-planning and bridging documents. Ross Vierra, of Axis Global Enterprises, will be leading the entire team of architects, engineers, and contractors.
