Olathe Alley Renewal

Landworks Studio was hired to design one of Olathe's five alleys and create a plan for the remaining four. We held and facilitated a workshop with downtown Olathe stakeholders, residents, businesses and City/County staff to brainstorm ideas for a theme to span all the alleys. This theme will influence the design of all the alleys, keeping them related to one another and interactive. Through the workshop, a concensus was reached on the theme of "motion". Once this was established, we worked with City staff to design the first alley between Cherry and Chesnut, with the nickname "Cherry Place Alley". The design team at Landworks Studio included native plants and living walls to help mitigate stormwater runoff, as well as integrating interactive swings as the main element to the alley. These will be suspended on custom designed light-poles that light up the alley with a range of colors after dark, allowing the space to be used at all times of the day. Considerations were also made to provide a workspace with charging ports as well as many seating options.