Neighborhood Allies is seeking to expand the number of Equity-Centered Designers within our network. As an Equity-Centered Designer, you will have the opportunity to provide general and specialized services to residents, entrepreneurs and organizations we serve on a part-time basis.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Social Impact Design, Equity-Centered Designer Network
Creative and Analytic Play Space (CAPS)
RFP SUMMARY
Issue Date: Thursday March 30, 2023
Response Deadline: Friday April 14, 2023
Neighborhood Allies is seeking to expand the number of Equity-Centered Designers within our network. As an Equity-Centered Designer, you will have the opportunity to provide general and specialized services to residents, entrepreneurs and organizations we serve on a part-time basis.
Respondents should be a qualified designer, willing to co-design and explore the feasibility of a unique outdoor “Creative Analytical Play Space” in the Hilltop. This space will act as a community attraction that provides needed outdoor space for the Brashear Association’s existing programming, as well as safe passage from the site to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Knoxville.
BACKGROUND
The Social Impact Design Program at Neighborhood Allies translates community visions and objectives into architectural design packages that ensure design and development projects are focused on what the community wants and needs. We make professional design services accessible to historically disinvested communities by providing concept, schematic design, and project management support to local organizations and resident leaders to produce community inspired interventions.
The program seeks to advance placemaking, place-keeping, and community-driven real estate projects through an Equity-Centered Community Development lens—a process that is people centered and encourages designers to co-create with the community by empowering those who have historically been left behind. We strive to deliver design projects that uphold equity as the bottom line through research, engagement, project development, and project delivery. Typically, design services are offered through a series of charrettes and educational workshops uniquely created to gather community input. Project delivery often includes a package of community designed ideas that can leverage additional funding for future improvements.
PROJECT SCOPE
Neighborhood Allies is working with Brashear Association, Inc to envision an outdoor “Creative and Analytic Play Space” for the Brashear Association and the Knoxville community. To support this project, we are inviting Landscape Architects to join our Equity-Centered Designer Network. One or two designers will be contracted as consultants to provide technical assistance and consultation throughout the duration of the project.
Neighborhood Allies’ Social Impact Design services are comprised of three distinct phases: Storytelling and Analysis, Design Synthesis, and Final Package Compilation. To support this project, we’ve developed a three-part community design series:
- Public Info Session: The Social Impact Design team will present an initial site plan, potential issues for the design to resolve, and initial design precedent imagery to the public at a site visit. Attendees will be able to walk the site, understand the goals of the design process, and ask any questions before attending the design charrette later in the week. Folks will also be able to provide feedback on the design if they are unable to attend the design charette.
- Goal: Walk charrette attendees through the constraints of the site.
- Youth Charrette: This charrette will focus on engaging the youth within the community and the youth that attend the after-school programming.
- Goal: Have the youth select play equipment and main methods of play.
- Community Charrette: The third session of the charrette series will center around design review and development of the playground that incorporates feedback from the youth charrette. Social Impact Design will present draft renders and plans of the project and community members will have the opportunity to work more closely with designers to refine ideas.
- Goal: Work through ideas on how the play space connects to the neighboring sites.
To effectively accomplish these objectives, Neighborhood Allies is requesting proposals from designers who are interested in providing:
- Direct consultation to our program and its partners/ clients:
- Zoning and land-use analysis,
- Evaluating playground and park design and code guidelines,
- Understanding potential Site remediation needs,
- Grading & terrain studies,
- Cost estimating.
- General project administration:
- Participate in regularly scheduled calls to review the status of the project and opportunities.
- Attend planned community workshops held anywhere from 4-8pm on weekdays, and a maximum of 1 Saturday per month (if required).
Firms/ individuals may be selected for the services below:
- Provide approximately 10 hours of direct project consultation
- Co-facilitating community-driven equity-centered design services at the three design series workshops outlined above. (Estimated at approximately 3 hours per session + additional planning).
- Diagramming + Rendering services as needed
Note: This project is conceptual, pre-schematic, designs which will be used by the Brashear Association for fundraising purposes. Work excludes all stamped architectural, consulting civil and structural engineering services, and does not guarantee a future contracted project for the consultant or their affiliated firm(s).
KEY DATES
- RFP Issue Date: March 31, 2023
- Proposal Response Deadline: April 14, 2023
- Interviews (if required): April 24-25, 2023
- Contract Award: On or before April 28, 2023
- Storytelling & Analysis: May 1 – June 2, 2023
- First Meeting & Site Visit: May 1-13, 2023
- Design Synthesis: June 5 – August 4, 2023
- Community Design Series: June 8-June 26, 2026
- Final Design Compilation: August 7 – September 1, 2023
This timeline is subject to change.
BUDGET
Consultants should provide consultancy fee broken out by services: Project consultation (approximated at 10 hours), Co-Facilitation (minimum 3 design sessions – maximum 5 design sessions estimated at 3 hours per session), Diagramming & Rendering up to 30 hours.
Reimbursable Expenses not to exceed $1,000
Total costs not to exceed $10,000
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
- Firm/ individual commitment to equity-centered design process
- Firm/ individual design experience, including landscape architecture and design
- Moonlighting policy (if applicable)
- MWDBE status if applicable
GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS
To respond to this Request For Proposals, please submit the following:
- Cover Letter expressing interest in project and moonlighting policy if applicable
- Resume
- Fee proposal, structured as a fee not to exceed the budget outlined above, including hourly rates for additional services
- List of past and current clients and project samples
- Portfolio/ Examples of 3 relevant projects
Please submit your proposal as one combined PDF by 5:00PM EST Friday April 14, 2023 to:
Tamara Emswiler, Senior Program Manager for Social Impact Design
