Much like designing a building or structure, there are certain recommendations and regulations that must be followed when designing an exterior space. The majority of recommendations for campground/village design come from the users. Supplementing the sustainable elements needed within the shelter village, there are certain arrangements of these elements that are needed to develop a successful village atmosphere. In a survey, conducted by Catwell and James on local campgrounds, there were five “needs” that continued to show up: the nearness to a comfort station, the amount of shade, the nearness to a fire hydrant, the closeness to a body of water, and the campers’ privacy from other “shelters.” In addition, they found that there is a direct relationship between the amount of shade needed and the usage of a specific shelter site. Catwell and James also found that 30 to 90 percent of shade is preferred by the campers.
Image 1 - An example of a shower building, located at Fort Stevens
In another survey, Boutwell and McCoy gave a group of campers a list of eighteen elements, in which they were to organize them by importance. From the list of elements, the following were ranked the highest by the users: all-weather road, safe drinking water, hot water, substantial shade, electricity, shower and restroom facilities, and picnic tables (Moss, 1985). In addition, they discovered that there should be a main building, near the center of the campground/village, which houses a number of spaces: a community dining area, conference rooms for public meetings, a recreation room for the children, and small auditorium for community concerts. In addition to the information they found in the surveys, the level of sound within the shelter village would be another major element that will need to be controlled with the design of the proposed shelter village.
Image 2 - The traditional campground style dining/mess hall
When designing the layout of a campground, there are certain recommendations and regulations that must be incorporated into a design. In any shelter village or campground setting, there is a need for a main security building located near the main entrance of the shelter. In addition, there should be smaller satellite security buildings located throughout the village. According to Hutsman and Cordell, a campground should be in a single loop design, with a one entrance for safe and ingress and egress proposes. They also described that these loops should be a minimum of 120 feet wide with double lane roads that area minimum of 25 feet wide. In addition, there should be at least twelve shelter sites per acre, with each site having the dimensions 30’ x 80’or more, which equals 2,400 square feet (Cordell and Hutsman, n.d.). However, due to Issue 5 of Access Today, each shelter site should have the dimensions 55’ x 70’, which equals 3,850 square feet.
Image 3 - A diagram showing an example of a loop campground layout
In Tom Gonser’s publishing, “Preliminary Analysis and Park Design,” he recommends that the minimal spacing between any two campsites, to create a sense of openness and privacy, should be a minimum of 27’ to 30’. In addition, due to the typical water hose being 25 feet long, the location of the shelter site’s utility hook-up should not exceed more than 20 feet (Gonser, 2008). Due to Roberto Barrios, an anthropologist at Southern Illinois University, at Carbondale, the human body is not universal; therefore to respond to 19.7% of the United States having some form of disability, a specific number of handicapped sites are needed. For the proposed shelter village, having between 100 to 200 sites, there is a need for seven to ten handicapped accessible sites. Also,responding to accessibility, no site shall exceed a slope of 1:50, unless for drainage reasons. Then the slope can be increased to 1: 33, per the Outdoor Developed Areas Final Report, Section 16.17.2.3 (Campground Accessibility, 2002).
Image 4 - A sign notifying campers that this is a handicapped accessible campsite
Image 5 - Showing how a campground can be designed to fit handicapped accessible individuals
Text
Campground Accessibility: Issues and Recommendations. (2002). Access Today. Retrieved
November 10, 2010, from http://www.indiana.edu/~nca/monographs/5camping.shtml
Cordell and Hutsman. Campgrounds and RV Parks: On-line Lesson. (n.d.). Notthern Arizona
University. Retrieved November 10, 2010, from http://www.prm.nau.edu/prm423/campgrounds_and_rv_parks_lesson.htm.
Gonser, T. (2008 August). Preliminary Analysis and Park Design. Retrieved November 10,
2010, from http://www.rversonline.org/RVParkAnalysis.html
Moss, A. (1985). A study and Analysis of Campers’ Preferences for Campground
Environments Among Three Age Groups.
Images
Image 1 - http://www.modernbuildingsystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/fort
-stevens-1-big.jpg
Image 2 - http://www.carolinaspiritquest.org/images/795s.jpg
Image 3 - http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/fspubs/07232816/fig07_03.gif
Image 4 - http://www.ncao-stevens-1-big.jpg nline.org/files/nca_images/camp/
NJcampsite009.jpg
Image 5 - http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/display/2ac668fa-8117-4c06-b8f8-
a4e19ab2b26c.JPG
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