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 between sites. But in PyeongChang, SWA departed from that logic and instead took their cues from the landscape itself, resulting in the most compact design in Olympic Winter Games history. Locating all events in one valley achieved two goals: creating the most efficient and exciting experience for athletes and visitors to the Games, and minimizing disruption of the region’s steep terrain and pristine pine forests. In PyeongChang, pedestrians flowed along a continuous promenade between these venues, saving hours of shuttle bus time while also being immersed in a high-octane sports experience. The arrival sequence to the Ski Jumping Stadium is choreographed to build viewer excitement, beginning with a plaza flanked by three practice jumps, the monorail station—which transports athletes, coaches, and officials to the tower and Large Hill and Normal Hill in-runs—and culminating in the Ski Jumping Stadium itself. The design was created for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games bid and ultimately built to bolster Korea’s successful 2018 bid. The venue remains active in summer with an 18-hole golf course, roller-blade training, and a soccer pitch, replacing the snow sports.
Rio 2016 Olympic Park Competition
SWA was awarded 2nd place in the 2016 Olympic Park Competition in Rio de Janeiro for their master plan and landscape architecture proposal. The Olympics will be located on a 118-hectare site in the neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca. The underlying concept of ‘Embrace’ weaves through the design in a grand planning gesture, which both defines the Olympic Games and...
JW Marriott Charlotte
The JW Marriott Charlotte, developed by White Lodging and designed by HKS, is a striking 21-story luxury hotel that redefines modern elegance in a prime downtown setting. This urban mixed-use hotel seamlessly integrates sophisticated design elements throughout every space. The 7,500-square-foot amenity deck is a true designer’s vision, featuring custom tile mo...
St. Louis Ballpark Village District Landscape Master Plan
Downtown St. Louis is currently undergoing an urban renaissance: seeking to enrich experience of place and to attract a growing population of urban residents, employeers, and tourists. SWA/Balsley was engaged for district-wide landscape services for a new urban redevelopment, Ball Park Village, located directly across the street from Busch Stadium, home of the...
Great Park
One of the world’s largest municipal parks, the 1,300-acre Great Park in Irvine, California, is currently under construction with phased openings continuing through 2029. The conceptual framework encompasses redesign and implementation of near- and longer-term uses, with the intent to “put the park back into the park.” The vast site, which was once the Marine ...