LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — UA architecture students are creating a new place for magic to happen at Camp Aldersgate, a Little Rock camp that serves children with special needs. This week four students and an assistant professor of architecture, Laura Terry, are putting the final touches on an outdoor amphitheater that they designed and built in just one month. The project follows two other projects created by architecture students for the camp, a fully accessible archery pavilion and a 22-foot-high tree house. This year’s project is relatively simple, which, Terry says, puts the campers in the limelight.

Adjustable shooting stations allow all campers to practice archery.

 “Simplicity can be incredibly powerful. The stage is just a floating horizontal plane, but when the actors are on stage, and the seats are filled with 100 campers, the space comes alive,” Terry said. “The children are the event.”

Siting was critical to the success of the design. The students chose a gently sloped space that offers good sight lines to the stage and beyond, views of the lake. A leafy canopy shades and cools the amphitheater, and a stately oak and 75-foot pine tree frame the stage.

The design itself is a simple one. The rectangular cedar stage is built into the sloped site so that campers may access it from two bridges.

“The bridges from the ground to the stage are level, so they won’t be any trouble at all for the kids in wheelchairs,” said student Angie Carpenter, who is working on her second design/build project at the camp.

To keep maintenance costs low, the students designed steel and concrete benches that are impervious to weather. Embossed with leaves and rocks found on site, each concrete bench top is unique.

Campers enjoy the view from the 22-foot high tree house

“Nature has left its mark upon the benches,” said student Matt Hagler. “We’re tying the design back to the natural area that surrounds it.”

The benches have been built in three-, four- and six-foot increments and arranged to leave ample space for wheelchair circulation and seating. Interaction with the campers helped to shape the design.

“When we went to the bonfire last week, we noticed that the kids in wheelchairs had to sit in front. This design will allow them to filter in and sit wherever they want to,” Hagler said.

The University of Arkansas Women’s Giving Circle awarded a $15,000 grant for the amphitheater. This is the second time they have supported the School of Architecture’s design/build program at Camp Aldersgate, and it is the only program they have funded twice to date. Home Depot and the Bradley Turner Foundation, a private foundation from Georgia that supports Methodist Church and higher education initiatives, also provided funding for the project.

Little Rock architect Steve Kinzler, a principal with the Wilcox Group, donated his time and labor, helping to pour concrete and drag steel beams into place.

“The Wilcox Group has been involved with our program from day one, and continues to provide support for us,” Laura Terry said.

Campers and staff at Camp Aldersgate have warmly welcomed the architecture students. Bill Faggard, director of programs at the camp, said: "It's such a win-win deal: the campers benefit, the camp benefits with unique new structures, the students benefit, and the community benefits.  The students will remember this experience when they are designing buildings as professionals," he said. 

Indeed, developing a fully accessible project from first sketch to final nail is a powerful learning experience for the architecture students.

“The design/build process really makes you think about how every piece is going to attach to every other piece,” said student Kara Pegg. “You can’t skim over the details like you might in studio.”

Seeing the campers bring the design to life is perhaps the most gratifying experience of all.

“This place is about all kids getting to go to camp, swim in the lake and horse around. Our amphitheater will allow the kids to begin their camp experience in a more inclusive way,” said David Kuykendall.

“Thanks to the School of Architecture’s design/build program, we’ve been blessed with three unique structures for our camp,” said Sarah Wacaster, director of Camp Aldersgate. “Laura and her students have made a profound impact with their hard work and creativity. They have become part of our camp family.”

The new amphitheater will debut later this summer.