For the $8M renovation of Panorama Park, a 13-acre park in the historically underserved community of Southeast Colorado Springs, Muller collaborated with Stream Landscape Architecture + Planning, the City of Colorado Springs, and Trust for Public Land who designed a master plan, developed construction documents and oversaw the implementation of the largest neighborhood park renovation in the City’s history. The newly revitalized Panorama Park includes a universally accessible playground, ball fields, sports courts, a skateable youth area, an event lawn and plaza, an interactive water feature, and a series of looped paths and adventure trails – all of which reflect the desires and dreams of the community. Of special significance is the close work between Muller and Stream to develop a site layout that seamlessly integrates green infrastructure, water quality treatment, and stormwater detention into the landscape and recreational amenities, such as the bike challenge course. 

In addition to achieving the other climate-smart initiatives of increasing tree canopy and reducing water use with native vegetation and artificial turf, Muller and Stream designed a holistic and innovative approach to managing stormwater to improve water quality. The design concentrates the programming and recreation in the center of the park, allowing the site’s perimeter to be utilized as vegetated buffer. With all of the parking and amenity areas, 30% of the site is impervious. The design team responded to the need to provide water quality treatment and detention by designing a park that fully integrates stormwater management to provide value beyond basic stormwater conveyance, treatment, and detention. Rather than directing runoff directly into gutters that concentrate flows into pipes with no possibility for infiltration, the site grading allows for small, localized pre-treatment depression areas – such as the planters in the plaza and the infiltration islands in the parking lot – that are connected by bio-swales, to infiltrate and filter stormwater, disconnect impervious areas, and ultimately reduce runoff.