We were once asked what inspires our work? It felt like a straightforward question that could be readily answered; however, we quickly understood the complexity of our answer as we prepared a response. The inspiration behind our work isn’t derived from one source, or one purpose, or one vision; rather, it is the collective of our personal, professional, and every day observations. We are fortunate to be part of a profession that exposes us to wonderfully diverse people, places, design challenges, and opportunities on a daily basis. Whether our projects bring us to the north country in Maine, the stretching beaches of the Cape, or the quintessential New England landscapes of Massachusetts, we thrive on the opportunity to listen to people to really understand their personal design goals so that, in turn, we can help to realize their vision, while bringing a sense of calm and beauty to their world.
Natural and Built Environments
On a daily basis, we have the opportunity to engage in our natural, built, and social environments. We are constantly aware of, and evaluating: beauty, texture, color, form, movement, composition, contrast, balance, symmetry, asymmetry, proportion, scale, light/shadow, auditory, tactile, and olfactory elements.
Teaching
We feel honored to have the opportunity to share our passion for our natural and built environments with emerging professionals through our teaching endeavors, which simultaneously keeps our perspectives and creativity fresh, while affording us the opportunity of mentorship by fostering encouragement, innovation, communication, and critical thinking.
Relationships
Undoubtedly, we would not be where we are today without the cornerstone relationships that have contributed to our growth. From our builder and developer contacts, to our architect and civil engineering colleagues, to our business development team, subcontractors, vendors, students, family and friends… while we spend our days envisioning, designing, and building our future outdoor spaces, we are able to really enjoy the process and the connections that we have made through the years. Relationships are the cornerstone to a successful business and an enjoyable every day…
Eager to help us with our Sustainable Design and Construction class at RISD, we were so very grateful to Ashley Allard-LaCroix (below-left) and Daniel Neviackas (below-right), who kindly shared their time with us during the fall semester to showcase their permeable pavement infrastructure.
Contribution… Project Work on the Boards
While we have a spectrum of institutional, commercial, public, and residential work on the boards, we would like to share the following projects with you:
Cassidy Field Park
Cassidy Field Park is located in Cleveland Circle and accommodates a diverse user group, including elders, families, college students, etc. The park exists adjacent to a residential neighborhood, a senior living facility, a Department of Conservation public pool facility, the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, the Cleveland Circle MBTA T-stop, and a bustling Cleveland Circle, which maintains several cafes, shops, and convenience services.
We have had the opportunity to work with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department to help envision the following park improvements: accessibility, a perimeter walking loop, (2) softball fields, (1) baseball field, a renovated tennis court, sport field lighting, a bocce court, accessible picnic/seating opportunities, viewing terraces, and rain gardens for sustainable stormwater management.
Franciscan Children’s
Franciscan Children’s is located in Brighton, Massachusetts. Terraink has had the privilege to work with Franciscan Children’s during the development of a master plan for the redesign of the establishment’s exterior playground, which was recently condemned due to unsafe play structures. At this time, Franciscan is using our master plan as the basis to secure funding to make the necessary park improvements so that the children, once again, will have an outdoor space where they can breathe fresh air and reap all of the benefits that our natural environment has on any being. Our hope is that, this year, we will have the opportunity to participate in the realization of this incredibly significant space for such an important user group!
Brooke Charter School
The Brooke Charter School is located in Boston, Massachusetts and is a new construction public charter school that will accommodate 600 students in grades 8 – 12. The site improvements managed over thirty feet of elevation change and introduced a series of sustainable rain gardens to accommodate the stormwater surface runoff throughout the site. Careful attention was given to the visibility, accessibility, and safety of the students as the new structure will exist adjacent to the American Legion Highway. We developed an exterior academic courtyard that will provide a safe and aesthetic outdoor environment for classrooms, performance, and casual gatherings.
We bring a true passion for our natural, built, and social environments to all that we do and we are driven by our commitment to promote stewardship within our communities through mentorship, client collaboration, relationships, and design vision. Thank you for taking the time to learn a little more about us and we hope you visit again soon!
JADE & KELLIE
Terraink – Principals
