HADDAD | DRUGAN

The Metro North Base Park is located on top of an underground bus garage that is part of a King County transit base in a residential neighborhood. Before construction the park was dreary and unfriendly, with chainlink fencing and gray concrete structures.

Laura Haddad was commissioned to create a public art project for the park, with a budget of merely $10,000. The art project was initiated to make the park more inviting for the community living around the base. Laura decided that to simply add artwork to such a poorly designed place would be counter-productive, and decided to use the commission to redesign the park.

Existing materials including concrete pavers, picnic tables, plants, and a sandbox were moved and transformed to create a series of smaller-scaled, friendly, and playful spaces. Colorful paint and perennials were added, and a new entry portal replaced the chain link fence. Laura worked with park neighbors to cast and inlay mosaic-concrete pavers that were incorporated into the park.