Rowlett council, designers gather public input on municipal campus schematic design

Rowlett City Council and the project design team met Jan. 6 at the Rowlett Community Center for a work session devoted to schematic design for the municipal campus, a project that designers and staff say will establish the downtown "civic heart" and a 50-year public campus.

Assistant City Manager Christophe Bauer introduced the item and described the session as a design visioning exercise. James Biers of Hayford Walker and members of the consultant team — including Steve Janeway and Kent Pontius (Hayford Walker), Chris Denklaw (Swinerton), Cody Atwood (Westwood) and landscape architect Tricia Wolover — led an interactive review of imagery and materials with council members and the public.

The design team presented material from the downtown master plan and the city's strategic plan as context and asked the council to use green and red dots to indicate preferred and disliked imagery. Biers told the council, "We have made a lot of progress to 'to Christophe's point," and urged interactive feedback on adjectives and imagery. Bauer said the goal was to conclude schematic direction before moving the project to the next phase.

Why it matters: Council members and designers framed the campus as both a functional complex for public safety and city operations and as a downtown identity anchor meant to connect to the lakefront, downtown brand and adjacent parkland. Design choices now will guide later cost estimating,…