Perched on the edge of San Francisco Bay, the Hunters Point Shipyard was an important naval manufacturing center for the WWI and WWII war efforts. The abandoned shipyard and Candlestick Point were combined into a new, mixed-use residential, retail and light industry development—the largest in San Francisco since WWII. Thomas Balsley Associates collaborated with urban planners IBI Group in developing an innovative urban plan whose parks and open spaces exploit the site’s extraordinarily diverse waterfront and views as well as its rich maritime heritage. The plan combines the proposed Forty-Niners football stadium within the new mixed-use community with a sustainable system of smart streets, bikeways and diverse parks, including California’s first urban state park, redesigned to function as the front lawn to San Francisco’s Bayview and Hunters Point Community. A lively network of neighborhood parks, plazas, linear boulevard parks, roof deck recreation areas, and a continuous waterfront park trail and bikeway system knits the spaces together and connects the upland community to its new shipyard neighbors and the extraordinary bay environment. The state park’s grassland and natural shoreline has been retooled into a landscape of the highest standards of environmental and social sustainability.
Guangzhou Vanke Center
Guangzhou Vanke Center incorporates commercial, and office uses in an urban setting. To echo the “cascading” concept of the architectural design, the landscape architecture was inspired by the fluidity of water, as well as the unique local cultural heritage of dragon boats. The design provides for different types of social activity with variously scaled spaces...
Poly Zhuhai
Large, flexible spaces offer both intimate and grand experiences.
This large mixed-use development located at the central axis of Hengqin Island, which was created from landfill near Macao. The site is to the south of the small Hengqin Mountain, facing a civic sports park on the other side.
The main office tower has a large, square footprint, elev...
Cross Creek Ranch
The Cross Creek Ranch acreage was worn-down pasture land when Trendmaker Homes bought the ranch, located about 30 miles west of Houston. The curves of the land’s natural creek had been straightened, the grass was pounded by cattle and the property was barren, without trees. Sediment filled the creek, which no longer supported wildlife. SWA devised a plan to re...
Landmark II Tower Park
The west side of Los Angeles has always been a desirable destination for businesses, visitors, and residents: easily reached by vehicular and public transportation, and with access to the Pacific Ocean. Community clusters have formed within this area, establishing the need for respite within the hustle and bustle of the heavily trafficked Wilshire Boulevard co...