SWA Shortlisted for Portland Waterfront Park Design Competition
Portland’s South Waterfront Greenway and New York’s Hunter’s Point South Park, two prominent waterfront parks designed by SWA.
The SWA-led team, with PLACE, Thomas Phifer and Partners, KPFF, Great Ecology, and PAE, was one of three teams unanimously selected by the competition’s Jury to move on to the next stage to reimagine Portland’s Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The teams were chosen from a field of 50 submissions from more than 150 firms across six continents.
SWA Group has been shortlisted in the international design competition to redesign Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Portland, Oregon, leading a team that includes Portland-based PLACE, Landscape Architect and Delivery / Contractual Lead; Thomas Phifer and Partners, Architect; KPFF, Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineer; Great Ecology, Ecology and Sustainability Consultant; and PAE, Electrical Engineer. The team unites waterfront expertise, local knowledge, and architectural craft around one ambition: a waterfront that could exist only in Portland.
Running along the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park was created in 1978 following the removal of Harbor Drive — a project widely cited as an early milestone in the U.S. freeway removal movement. Renamed in 1984 in honor of former Oregon Governor Tom McCall, the park has served as a central gathering place for the city, hosting festivals, protests, and everyday recreation along the riverfront.
“The response to this competition shows how much possibility people see in Portland and its waterfront,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson shared in the official announcement. “The shortlisted teams bring a strong range of experience and ideas. I’m looking forward to seeing what they propose and to hearing from Portlanders when the designs are shared publicly next year.”
Portland Parks & Recreation is leading the international design competition, managed by Malcolm Reading Consultants, to guide the redevelopment of the park’s 30-acre site, with a focus on its Bowl area, for the next generation of use. The competition follows more than a year of community engagement, including surveys, stakeholder meetings, and public workshops.
For the competition’s design phase, teams will develop concept designs that will be shared with the public in an exhibition in early 2027. The other shortlisted teams include BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group (US) with Jennifer Bonner / MALL (US), and Studio Egret West (UK) with West of West (US). The winning team is expected to be announced in Spring 2027.