Weather Shelter for Bus Riders
Ball State landscape architecture student spearheads design
Damar CEO Jim Dalton was leaving the office one day last year and noticed someone waiting for the bus nearby with a bag over his head to block the rain. Fast-forward to June 2024, and those waiting for the bus there have a colorful, clean and protected place to wait.
Damar decided its employees and clients taking the bus from its campus on the far-southwest side deserved a place to wait for a ride protected from the elements. The result is the bright blue courtesy weather shelter, which is available to anyone, including the community members and workers at area businesses, waiting at the Ameriplex Parkway bus stop. It’s not unusual for 10 or more people to gather at one time in this location. Damar employs approximately 1,100 people on that campus, and houses up to 148 adults in the homes at Damar Village on site as well.
The metal shelter with the vivid orange bench is the brainchild of Reese Higginbotham, Damar’s project design lead. The Ball State University landscape architecture student started at Damar three years ago as an intern. Now heading into her senior year, she works for Damar full time in the summer and part time during the school year. This is the first time that one of the landscape architecture student’s designs has been built.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to do a design-build project as a 21-year-old student,” Higginbotham said. “Through this experience, and thanks to Damar, I feel a lot more in touch with how designing in the real world goes. This is experience I couldn’t necessarily get in the classroom.”
Higginbotham had multiple considerations as she approached the design. Safety was top among them. Since Damar serves people with various developmental disabilities, she wanted to avoid materials that could break easily, such as glass. Also, she made sure to use vertical slats rather than horizontal ones, which might invite climbing and create a hazard near the busy street. After conducting careful research, Higginbotham came up with a design that went through 15 iterations before Damar leadership settled on the one that would be the safest, most attractive and best fit for the budget.
When the shelter was installed on May 31, Higginbotham arrived early in the morning to watch the process. As a community member waited for the bus, he was excited by the new shelter rising before his eyes. Higginbotham recalled him saying, “This is so wonderful. I would get so hot here. It looks beautiful and so artistic.”
It is important to note that this project was funded by donors to the Damar Foundation. As a project funded by donors for the disability community and beyond, this dynamic, safe enhancement is an example of providing innovative solutions to real-world problems.
Weather Shelter for Bus Riders
Ball State landscape architecture student spearheads design
Damar CEO Jim Dalton was leaving the office one day last year and noticed someone waiting for the bus nearby with a bag over his head to block the rain. Fast-forward to June 2024, and those waiting for the bus there have a colorful, clean and protected place to wait.
Damar decided its employees and clients taking the bus from its campus on the far-southwest side deserved a place to wait for a ride protected from the elements. The result is the bright blue courtesy weather shelter, which is available to anyone, including the community members and workers at area businesses, waiting at the Ameriplex Parkway bus stop. It’s not unusual for 10 or more people to gather at one time in this location. Damar employs approximately 1,100 people on that campus, and houses up to 148 adults in the homes at Damar Village on site as well.
The metal shelter with the vivid orange bench is the brainchild of Reese Higginbotham, Damar’s project design lead. The Ball State University landscape architecture student started at Damar three years ago as an intern. Now heading into her senior year, she works for Damar full time in the summer and part time during the school year. This is the first time that one of the landscape architecture student’s designs has been built.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to do a design-build project as a 21-year-old student,” Higginbotham said. “Through this experience, and thanks to Damar, I feel a lot more in touch with how designing in the real world goes. This is experience I couldn’t necessarily get in the classroom.”
Higginbotham had multiple considerations as she approached the design. Safety was top among them. Since Damar serves people with various developmental disabilities, she wanted to avoid materials that could break easily, such as glass. Also, she made sure to use vertical slats rather than horizontal ones, which might invite climbing and create a hazard near the busy street. After conducting careful research, Higginbotham came up with a design that went through 15 iterations before Damar leadership settled on the one that would be the safest, most attractive and best fit for the budget.
When the shelter was installed on May 31, Higginbotham arrived early in the morning to watch the process. As a community member waited for the bus, he was excited by the new shelter rising before his eyes. Higginbotham recalled him saying, “This is so wonderful. I would get so hot here. It looks beautiful and so artistic.”
It is important to note that this project was funded by donors to the Damar Foundation. As a project funded by donors for the disability community and beyond, this dynamic, safe enhancement is an example of providing innovative solutions to real-world problems.