GEOBLOCK® Porous Pavers Provide Durable, Natural Grass Parking Solution

Aspire Park in Clinton, Tennessee, is a nature-inspired community space that hosts concerts, festivals, and other large events. The park’s open landscape was designed to remain green and natural throughout the year, but it also needed to accommodate occasional vehicle parking for major gatherings. Balancing these two goals of providing temporary parking while preserving the park’s green aesthetic was the central challenge of this project.

Permeable Parking Design Challenge

The goal was to create a parking solution that blended seamlessly into the park’s landscape while meeting functional performance and environmental standards. Traditional hard-surface pavements such as asphalt or concrete would have created permanent impervious coverage, conflicting with the park’s design intent, and requiring additional stormwater management infrastructure.

GEOBLOCK Grass Pavers Provide Green Parking Solution

To meet the project’s performance and sustainability goals, the project owner, Hollingsworth Companies, selected the GEOBLOCK® 5150 Porous Pavement System. The project covered approximately 25,000 square feet of reinforced turf parking area. It was supported locally by Jen-Hill LLC, Presto Geosystems’ authorized distributor in Tennessee, who provided technical guidance and materials for installation. Installed by Luke’s Lawncare, the GEOBLOCK system provided a load-supporting foundation that protects the grass surface while maintaining permeability. The rigid, interlocking panels were filled with soil and seeded to establish a durable turf surface that blends seamlessly into the park environment. The panels were placed over a prepared subgrade and 6 inches of the recommended engineered base (30% topsoil, 70% aggregate) to support fire truck traffic.

Sustainable Green Parking Results

The completed area now serves as a dual-purpose surface, functioning as an open lawn for daily visitors and a reinforced grass parking area during large events. By using the GEOBLOCK system, the owner successfully reduced impervious coverage, improved on-site infiltration, and achieved long-term performance without compromising the park’s visual appeal.

Benefits of the GEOBLOCK System

The GEOBLOCK Porous Pavement System delivered strong structural performance and sustainable site benefits for this turf parking application. 

• High Load Support 
  Rigid, interlocking panels provide superior load transfer and flexural strength, supporting vehicle traffic without surface deformation. 
• Rutting and Turning Resistance 
  The shared-wall design distributes point loads evenly, preventing rutting and damage from vehicle turning stresses. 
• Healthy Turf Growth 
  Deep cells protect topsoil and grass roots, while the engineered base mix promotes quick establishment and long-term turf vitality. 
• Reduced Base Requirements 
  High unit strength allows for a thinner base layer, cutting excavation costs and minimizing site disturbance. 
• Stormwater Infiltration 
  Permeable design reduces runoff and supports natural infiltration, aligning with green infrastructure goals.