Arrive

The Gulf Coast DesignLab has partnered once again with Camp Aranzazu, a nonprofit special-needs camp north of Rockport TX on the Gulf Coast. The first partnership was in 2016 when DesignLab students designed and built HIDE.

Each summer, Camp Aranzazu hosts special-needs children and adults for a week of life-changing recreational activity. Campers are encouraged to try kayaking, sail boating, rock climbing, zip-lining, and archery on their barrier-free campus. The camp mission states that it intends to aid healing and inspire growth through an inclusive exploration of the environment, as a means to foster a greater appreciation of the natural world and the campers’ role in it.

Late August of 2017 Hurricane Harvey made landfall just east of Rockport at 130 mph (215 km/h), causing massive damage to the area and its nearby communities. Aside from the many homes and businesses devastated, the category three winds of Harvey destroyed many of the live oaks in the area that provided shade during steamy coastal summers. Camp Aranzazu was particularly hit hard. At the highest elevation in Aransas County, many of the camp’s live oaks (along with numerous buildings) were destroyed or badly damaged, potentially impacting some of the camp’s outdoor activities since shade is particularly important for people with special needs.

One of the highlights of a camper’s week is the challenge course. It includes several outdoor rock climbing walls, high-ropes courses and zip-lines, all meant to build self-reliance, increase self-esteem and help regain confidence, especially for those with special needs. With many of the trees in the area around the challenge course gone, it is now in need of a new shade structure. This new work is meant to be a stand-alone facility that will accommodate about thirty campers waiting their turn for one of the challenge events. An enclosed storage area for all the challenge course gear—safety helmets, carabiners, ropes and tackle—is also needed when the course is not being used. This offers DesignBuild students an opportunity to enhance the experience of the camper, not only for providing shade, but a new place for learning knot-tying, native plant identification, bird watching, butterfly gardens and the like.

DesignLab students are currently working with their stakeholder to design and build this shade structure / storage space for the camp. The project is scheduled to be finished in mid-August 2018.