FORT WORTH, TX — Located on a mile-long corridor south of I-30 and east of Loop 820 in west Fort Worth, Texas, the Las Vegas Trail (LVT) Neighborhood Health Center marks a new era for a community long challenged by limited health care access. For more than three decades, LVT has struggled with limited health care access, effectively becoming a "health care desert." In 2021 alone, LVT residents made more than 4,000 visits to Cook Children's emergency or urgent care centers for primary care needs, underscoring the urgent need for nearby providers.
That recently changed with the opening of the Las Vegas Trail Neighborhood Health Center — a collaborative development led by Cook Children's, JPS Health Network, and the City of Fort Worth. The new 40,000-square-foot center now brings pediatric care (Cook Children's), adult care (JPS), behavioral health, social services, a food pantry, education space, and a neighborhood police substation directly into the heart of the community.
Dunaway continued its longstanding partnership with Cook Children's and JPS, teaming with Oculus, Inc. to deliver civil and structural engineering, planning and landscape architecture, environmental, and surveying services for this community resource.
A butterfly theme flows throughout the center, meant to symbolize growth, renewal, and the community's ongoing metamorphosis. Selected both for its metaphorical resonance and for the monarch migration route that passes through North Texas, the butterfly motif appears throughout the site and within the building — creating a cohesive narrative that ties together landscape, architecture, and community identity.
Dunaway's Planning and Landscape Architecture (PLA) team worked closely with Oculus to weave the butterfly theme into the user experience through the site design and playful, interpretive outdoor spaces. Visitors are greeted at the main entry by a decorative plaza with pavers, planter pots, outdoor seating, and butterfly-patterned pavement stamps.
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Shade structures resemble butterfly wings, and play surfacing incorporates caterpillar and butterfly graphics. To support monarch migration, the planting design emphasizes native pollinator species, including Texas lantana, Turk's cap, autumn sage, and black-eyed Susan, creating habitat and seasonal color year-round.
"Collaborating with Dunaway to coordinate the butterfly design concept of the facility within their work was seamless and effective. The accomplishment of their design work was evident in the final solution that brought the site to life through their use of color, imagery, and playground equipment that highlight a vibrant spot for the community," said Hannah Rohlfing, Senior Interior Designer with Oculus.
Designing the site's civil infrastructure required careful planning and innovative approaches, particularly when overcoming grading and stormwater challenges. Significant grade challenges on the 3.7-acre site were resolved through a series of large retaining walls, which were integrated into both the site circulation and now double as a community mural space painted by neighborhood residents.
To maintain a safe, child-focused site aesthetic, Dunaway's civil engineers designed an underground detention system, chosen to avoid above-ground water features for safety, aesthetic purposes, and to maximize site/lot area for the development while ensuring efficient drainage. The team also added public sidewalks and pedestrian pathways through the site, enhancing community access and providing various access options.
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Because the center houses pediatric, adult care, behavioral health, and social services, the design team carefully coordinated multiple access points, providing intuitive circulation for patients, staff, and public safety representatives. Visible above-ground utilities and infrastructure were also sited with equal intention — positioned to avoid obstructing signage, entry views, or thematic elements.
Challenging soil conditions also required innovative structural solutions. Dunaway designed a suspended structural foundation to provide long-term stability and performance. Architecturally exposed large tube-steel canopies encircle the building, further enhancing the center's visual identity. Retaining walls — engineered in coordination with Dunaway's Civil and PLA teams — support the site's major grade transitions, aiming to reinforce the architectural expression and provide a durable canvas for the community mural.
"Working with the Dunaway team was seamless and without hiccups," said Matthew Thole, Senior Project Designer with Oculus. "We were able to lean on their expertise and specific familiarity with the local jurisdiction to solve issues specific to the site planting requirement, miscellaneous structural field solutions, and project work/improvements within the surrounding public right of way, quickly and without encumbering the project schedule or other members of the project team."
