Our Services
We partner with communities and local government agencies to provide top notch design, planning, and capacity-building services.
How does co-design work?
The Neighborhood Design Center specializes in participatory design and planning services that support equity in the built environment. Through a process we call co-design, we collaborate with our community partners to engage stakeholders — from funders and government agencies to neighborhood leaders and residents — and create responsive, community-driven design solutions. Our work enhances fundraising applications, garners public support for community-led projects, and is an advocacy tool for community members who are building healthy, welcoming places.
How much do services cost?
Our services are available at no cost (pro bono), sliding scale, and market rate, depending on the project. With a staff of dedicated designers, facilitators and project managers — supported by a robust network of volunteer planners, architects, and artists — we partner on projects large and small, across jurisdictions in Maryland and Washington, D.C.
How do we get started?
Whether you are a community organization, nonprofit, government agency, or firm, we encourage you to reach out to discuss your goals and needs.
Contact Laura Robinson
For Landscape Design and Environmental Resilience Planning projects, please email lrobinson@ndc-md.org
Contact Christina Hartsfield
For Architecture and Community Planning projects, please email chartsfield@ndc-md.org
department
Landscape Design and Environmental Resilience Planning
Well-designed public landscapes and gardens provide meaningful community spaces, mental restoration, and room for reflection and healing. We work across scales and specialize in participatory planning — because great designs are informed by and for the community.
Community Landscape Design
We create accessible outdoor spaces that respond to the community's wants and needs, from single lots to neighborhood greenspace networks.
Neighborhood Parks and Pocket Parks
Playgrounds and Playscapes
Community Gardens
Interpretative Trails and Wayfinding (on/off road trails with educational and directional signage)
Vacant Lot projects
Neighborhood Greening Plans
See Examples
Schoolyards and Learning Environments
We believe that access to safe and functional areas for outdoor learning is key to student physical and mental health as well as learning outcomes.
Outdoor Classrooms
Interpretive Trails (pedestrian trails with educational signage)
Learning Space Layouts
Environmental Education
See Examples
Green Infrastructure
Our environmental resilience planning team integrates Best Management Practices (BMPs) for stormwater management, flood mitigation, and climate change to address community concerns.
Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Management Conceptual Plans
Green Infrastructure Inventories, Implementation and Maintenance Plans
Rain Garden and Pollinator Garden Plans, Planting Events and Education
Native Plant and Bay-friendly Design
Climate Change Adaptive Vision Plans
See Examples
Community Forestry
Whether working at the neighborhood scale, on a city street, or in a pocket park, our certified arborists support communities to leverage the many public health benefits of a healthy tree canopy.
Urban & Community Forest Management Plans
Community Tree Inventories
Street Tree Design
Food Forest Design
Tree Planting Events and Education
See Examples
Multimodal Transportation and Pedestrian Planning
We work with communities on plans that maximize safety for all, enhance ecological functions and economic appeal of the streetscape, and create great, dynamic streets that reflect their respective communities. Depending on community needs, plans may address sidewalks, bicycle lanes, bus lanes, public transportation stops, crossing opportunities, median islands, and more.
Complete Street Engagement and Conceptual Design Plans
Safe Routes to School Engagement and Design Plans
Bike and Pedestrian Infrastructure (off-road trails and amenities) and Connectivity Plans
See Examples
department
Architecture and Community Planning
The Architecture and Community Planning team at the Neighborhood Design Center specializes in participatory architectural design, place-based arts initiatives, and planning. Our team of architects, designers, planners, and engagement specialists hold strong commitments to design excellence, social justice, and responsive plans that prioritize community power and increased local self-determination.
Engagement and Facilitation
Our staff is trained to make organization and community-scale decision-making easier and more inclusive. As facilitators, we design the engagement process, structure meetings and workshops, document the process, and provide findings to enable stakeholders to bring their expertise to projects. Your group will come away with a more unified vision and an enhanced ability to work as a cohesive team.
Youth engagement
Community and project visioning
Place-based strategic planning
Design Charrettes
Asset mapping
Train-the-trainer workshops
Coalition building
Engagement training
See Examples
Community Planning
Our planning team helps neighbors define a collective vision about how their community should look and function. We prioritize bringing the right people to the project early and work to build actionable and inspirational documents that will guide the creation of just and equitable places.
Community workshops
Neighborhood plans
Cultural plans and public art plans
Site planning & feasibility studies
Zoning & regulatory analysis
Housing strategy planning, including work to support local community land trusts
See Examples
Architectural and Interior Design
In collaboration with you and a team of stakeholders, we identify a vision for your space, produce design options that reflect what we’ve heard, and deliver design documents that you can use to fundraise, apply for grants, or further develop designs with a licensed design professional.
Code analysis
Site planning
Conceptual building and space plans for existing buildings and new construction
Interior design and furniture plans
Facade improvement programs (design and management)
Visualizations, renderings, and 3d models
Project management (grants, construction, administration)
See Examples
Arts Planning and Cultural Programming
Our placemaking team listens to the unique history of each neighborhood and proposes design and art solutions that anchor and amplify those stories in place. We can support you in identifying public art opportunities, artist selection, designing placemaking elements and events, or securing a historic designation for your building or neighborhood.
Public Art + Administration (includes artist residency programs, management of artist RFQs and RFPs), public art implementation
Placekeeping and Placemaking
Historic preservation
Place-based identity and designs
Public space design
See Examples
Watch the powerful partnership between NDC and NEHI
The North East Housing Initiative is just one of our amazing partners, but a great example of how the Neighborhood Design Center helps all voices to be heard and provides the tools, plans, and connections to help communites achieve their neighborhood dreams.