Master Plan to Develop Springwoods Village as a Sustainable Community Adjacent to New ExxonMobil Campus Moves Forward

Design Workshop partners with Springwoods Village to create the "next generation" mixed-use community that aligns with sustainable vision for ExxonMobil campus

5 July 2011

Houston, Texas – The recent announcement of plans to develop a new ExxonMobil corporate campus north of Houston also highlights the master planning efforts underway for the $10 billion development called Springwoods Village—a mixed-use community that will be located next to the campus. Design Workshop, an international landscape architecture, land planning, urban design and strategic services firm, is leading the analysis and planning aspects of the Springwoods Village project to create a community that integrates the area’s natural ecosystem with proposed development in a sustainable, forward-looking approach.

The initial master plan concept for Springwoods Village was designed to support ExxonMobil’s vision for its new campus and provide a synergistic connection for employees there. The community seeks to balance the future demand for employment, urban and low-density housing, civic and institutional facilities, outdoor space, and other elements with a goal of preserving and protecting the natural environment through a long-term planning perspective. ExxonMobil’s campus and Springwoods Village are both being designed and built as new projects that coincide with each other and provide an opportunity to integrate systems that will benefit workers, residents and businesses in the area.     

Springwoods Village is located approximately 30 miles north of Houston on 1,800 acres and could potentially accommodate up to 50,000 people who would live, work, shop and play in this community as it is built out over the next 20-30 years.

Some highlights of the master plan Design Workshop has developed with Springwoods Village include the following:

• Innovative design that addresses the needs and lifestyles of the next generation of workers who will be located at ExxonMobil’s campus, such as access to natural open spaces, urban/mixed-use districts, diverse neighborhoods, pedestrian-friendly streets and a variety of civic, educational, park and urban space improvements.
• Re-connection and re-construction of existing drainage corridors and wetlands to support the design of community parks and open space, and re-establish habitat and wildlife corridors within the community.
• Development of community parks including a 150-acre nature preserve along Spring Creek that will become another open space amenity on the 33-mile Spring Creek Greenway corridor. The community parks are also being designed with trail systems that will connect to other regional parks.
• Progressive storm water management practices on streets that will utilize elements such as forest buffers, rain gardens and bio-swales (landscape elements designed to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water). 
• Integration of multi-use transit systems and best design practices to conserve water and energy throughout the community.

Design Workshop is part of an overall project team that also includes CDC Houston, the developer of Springwoods Village; Walter P Moore, a structural, civil- and traffic-engineering firm; and Costello, Inc., an engineering and survey firm focused on wastewater elements of the project. Other team members include Gensler, an architectural firm; Berg & Oliver Associates, an environmental consulting firm; and Lone Star Forestry, a forest management firm.

About CDC Houston
CDC Houston, Inc. is a subsidiary of Coventry Development Corporation of New York and a developer with expertise in creating mixed-use urban communities that foster smart and responsible growth for commercial and residential vitality.
www.springwoodsvillage.com

About Design Workshop
Founded in 1969, Design Workshop is an international landscape architecture, land planning, urban design and strategic services firm with six offices in the U.S. and work spanning the globe. The firm has been recognized with over 150 prestigious awards for its work in new communities, urban centers, resorts, public parks, golf courses and residences. The firm's philosophy challenges the project team to equally integrate and balance artistic vision, environmental sensitivity, community values and sound economics to create unique places that stand the test of time. It refers to this approach as DW Legacy Design®.