Master plans and architectural design concepts created by Texas A&M architecture students for Isaiah’s Place, a 40-acre equestrian facility serving the hearing impaired, will be unveiled Friday, Feb. 15 at a public presentation in the Dallas office of HKS, Inc.
The presentation will be held 11:30 a.m. in the HKS offices located at 1919 McKinney Ave. in downtown Dallas.
Established in 2002 as an equestrian learning and retreat center, Isaiah’s Place provides enrichment experiences and activities to help the deaf and hard-of-hearing and their families build communications skills, confidence and self-esteem, as well as an appreciation of the rural lifestyle.
Located in Whitney, Texas, approximately 70 miles south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, the center is owned and operated by Isaiah’s Place, Inc., a non-profit corporation.
“Our need for additional facilities called for a practical, long-range plan for future construction projects,” said Susan Frederickson, director of operations for Isaiah’s Place. “The willingness of the Texas A&M students to respond to this challenge has taken it to a much higher level than we could have hoped for.”
The project, launched with a field trip to the equestrian center, was undertaken by students in a healthcare architecture studio led by George J. Mann, AIA, holder of the Ronald L. Skaggs, FAIA and Joseph G. Sprague, FAIA Endowed Chair of Health Facilities Design. Joseph J. McGraw, professor emeritus, co-directed the studio with Mann.
Mann’s students were asked to create a master plan for the entire 40-acre facility, including a new equestrian center supported by a commercial kitchen, dining, housing and storage facilities.
“We are eager to see what creative ideas and practical designs these talented young adults bring to the expansion of Isaiah’s Place,” said Diane Frederickson, executive director of Isaiah's Place, in anticipation of the Feb. 15 unveiling.
In their final design concepts, articulated in models and sketches, the students’ include a performance arena, several cabins housing up to eight people each, a chapel, a gymnasium, a game room, and even a petting zoo. Their site plans also introduce a ropes course and call for the expansion of the center’s existing pond and boardwalk to facilitate fishing.
“Throughout this process, the students seem to have developed a true understanding of our work with the deaf community and a desire to make Isaiah’s Place an exceptional facility to meet their needs,” said Susan Frederickson. “The experience of working with these outstanding students and professors has been a testament to the excellence of the Texas A&M architecture program.”
Jon Bergeron Jr., president of Isaiah’s Place, Inc., and his wife Shelly, visited the Langford Architecture Center studio to review student work and introduced their deaf son, Tanner.
“These students became totally committed to this project when Dr. Bergeron and his wife Shelly brought their son, Tanner, to the studio,” said McGraw. “They saw how his parents used sign language to communicate, but Tanner and the architecture students quickly found their own ways to communicate.”
According to Bergeron, the architecture students’ designs will be used to help the center communicate its vision in future fund-raising efforts. After viewing the students’ progress, Bergerson said, “What was just a dream and a vision is taking shape and is on its way to becoming a reality.”
His wife, Shelly, added, “It’s been exciting to see the new opportunities at Isaiah's Place for the deaf, including our son Tanner, that are taking shape as a result of the hard work of the A&M students.”
Texas A&M University has one of the leading architecture-for-health design programs in the nation. Since its founding in 1966, faculty and students have undertaken more than 600 health-related projects nationally and around the world.
“The staff and board of directors of Isaiah's Place,” Mann said, “have provided one of the best learning experiences for our Texas A&M architecture students that I have seen.”
