Maple Park Neighborhood Center

Atlas Lab is working with La Familia Counseling Center to reimagine the Maple Park Neighborhood Center, transforming a former elementary school site into a vibrant community asset rooted in equity, cultural identity, and climate resilience. Located in North Franklin—an area long impacted by limited access to green space—the project responds to a critical community need. For decades, families in the surrounding neighborhood have lacked nearby parks, shade, and safe outdoor places to gather. Maple Park seeks to address this gap by converting an underutilized site into a welcoming, nature-rich environment that supports health, connection, and everyday community life. The design approach prioritizes environmental justice and public benefit, recognizing that access to trees, shade, and outdoor space plays a vital role in reducing heat exposure, improving physical and mental health, and strengthening neighborhood cohesion. Maple Park is envisioned as both a local park and a catalyst—supporting the broader goals of the Greening North Franklin initiative through landscape-based climate solutions. Atlas Lab has developed multiple site plan concepts shaped by community values and cultural context. The design integrates climate-responsive strategies, including tree canopy expansion, shaded gathering areas, and low-water landscape systems, alongside moments of color, play, and expression that celebrate the neighborhood’s Latino and Latin American heritage. Through a combination of landscape architecture, placemaking, and community-informed design, Maple Park transforms a vacant property into a space of renewal—one that reflects the identity of the people it serves and reinforces the role of public space as essential infrastructure for resilient, healthy communities.