Finishing touches were added to ChimneyStop on Leestown Road this week. The project is the second Art in Motion smART shelter, along with Industrial Oasis on Southland Drive, to be built with funds from a federal/state CMAQ grant AIM received in partnership with Lextran. Both shelter designs were chosen through public design contests held by AIM. The Kentucky Office of Local Programs was instrumental in funding the project.
The ChimneyStop design team was made up of Ryan Hargrove, an associate professor in UK’s Department of Landscape Architecture, and his students, Martin Steffen, Justin Menke and Chad Riddle. According to Hargrove, the design was inspired by the team’s effort to relate to the sense of place in the bluegrass region of Kentucky. The “dry laid” limestone walls mimic the miles of such walls that crisscross the region and define the landscape. The strong lumber structural components are inspired by the barns that dot the landscape and have served the region’s strong agricultural heritage. The exposed wooden columns, stained glass, and distinctive roof styling, in combination with the stone masonry foundation, reference the Craftsman style of architecture that has been fundamental in shaping the appearance of the surrounding built environment, including the neighborhood that anchors the Townley Center where the shelter is located. The addition of distinctive, modern design finishes are used to provide a marriage of traditional and modern, representing a continuum between past, present and future.
Where are they now? Hargrove’s students have moved on to professional posts in the design field. Steffen is a landscape designer with the Genesis Group in St. Petersburg, Florida, Menke is a landscape designer with MKSK in northern Kentucky and Riddle is an urban designer/planner with Wantman Group, Inc. in Lexington.
