Paradise at Park Side
Master Plan

Washington, DC
1988-1989

Paradise Manor Apartments, built in the 1960 ’s in northeast Washington, DC, was a classic public housing project of its time.Its fifteen shoe box-shaped three-story buildings with front-to-back tunneled passageways and its un-programmed 22 acres had become a dangerous place by 1987 when Telesis Corporation bought the property. With residents’ input on needs, desires and problem areas, Project Landscape Architect, Nancy W. Denig, developed the Landscape Master Plan, guided by defensible space principles. Surveillance capabilities and territory delineation were tantamount. The Plan features community facilities along a central spine:a new child care center, convenience store, play lot, water play area, ball courts, promenade, terraces and seating. For spaces between buildings, the Plan features major courtyard improvements: gateways, fencing, walkways pulled out from the buildings, terrace gardens at every entry, play lots, allotment gardens, mail centers and seating.This Master Plan was implemented in full, laying a foundation for a safe amenable urban neighborhood.