Here a new public library and cultural arts center were artfully sited to create memorable outdoor spaces. Working in collaboration with Group 4 architects, SWA transformed an earlier parking-fronted concept into a plan that resulted in landmark building and outdoor space composition along one of Yorba Linda’s main streets. The outdoor space – the Paseo – serves as a civic gathering space and includes subspaces for studying, socializing and enjoying performances.
Conceived spatially through the siting of buildings, the Paseo is detailed to complement the distinctive character of the place. Here loose furniture and convenience power for day-to-day studying, gathering and socializing function as outdoor rooms for the public. With the furniture stored, the Paseo can accommodate community events such as farmers markets, book fairs and art festivals. For larger events, an adjacent parking bay has retractable bollards which allow the Paseo to be extended.
A cleft granite misting table, surrounded by cast concrete stones, serves as a meeting point and landmark between the Paseo’s Library and Arts Center sub-plazas. The mist provides welcome cooling in Yorba Linda’s summers, while programmable lighting creates interest for evening events.
Materials and details of the outdoor spaces complement the buildings, extending experiential harmony for those visiting. Garden stairs along the street frontage leading to the Paseo have risers of warm-toned metaquartzite sandstone, quarried within 250 miles of the project, and treads of integrally colored concrete with sawcut joints and strip lights. The stone risers interlace with the adjacent flowering shrub planting, carving out places to sit.
California Academy of Sciences
One of San Francisco’s first sustainable building projects, the California Academy of Sciences supports a stunning 2.5-acre green roof. Emphasizing habitat quality and connectivity, the project has received two LEED Platinum certifications.
The building’s architectural team, the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW), invited SWA Group and horticultural c...
Century Metropolis
Century Metropolis is a civic development that serves the public interest of the Pudong district, the City of Shanghai, and all of China. More than a commercial complex, the project is an integrated development of public transit, cultural programs, open spaces for people, meeting and social gathering functions, business, hospitality, and shopping uses. Earmark...
2018 Winter Olympics
SWA’s master plan for the three Nordic Events venues—the Ski Jumping, Cross Country Skiing, and Biathlon stadia and courses—honors the natural beauty of a spectacular Olympic Winter Games landscape as never before. The venues were originally slated to be located in separate valleys, requiring athletes and spectators to travel from site to site. But in PyeongCh...
Alief Park and Neighborhood Center
Located in West Houston, the Alief Neighborhood Center and Park serves one of the city’s most diverse communities. Over 90 languages are spoken in Alief, which is home to first-generation immigrants from across the world and refugees from as far away as Vietnam and close as Louisiana—especially in the wake up Hurricane Katrina, when many families made a ...