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A community service project initiated by the International Living Future Institute will transform a vacant lot in Northeast Portland’s Cully neighborhood into a small park.

Over the past four months, a group of Portland architects, landscape architects and Portland State University architecture students have worked with neighborhood residents to design the $20,000 project. Plans call for the addition of native plantings, a gravel path and a decorative steel wall at the Oregon Department of Transportation-owned lot near the intersection of Northeast Killingsworth Street and Northeast Portland Highway.

On Saturday, between 30 and 40 volunteers are expected to attend a work party to plant about 500 native plants. Solar-powered lights also are in the works. The park is expected to be net zero in regard to both energy and water usage.

John Shorb, an associate with Portland-based Opsis Architecture, organized the project as the concluding event of ILFI’s 2014 conference in Portland.

“The intention was to actually have a physical, hands-on activity for the attendees to have a lasting impact on Portland,” he said.

The ILFI, which promotes green building, was looking for a way to reach an underserved community, Shorb said. That led to project partnerships with ODOT and nonprofit Verde, which has worked to add green space in Cully.

Carpet manufacturer Interface donated $16,000 for the project.

The lot will eventually serve as an entrance to the future Cully Park about a block away, Shorb said.