Houston’s Alief District is home to the city’s most ethnically diverse community. The 37-acre Alief Park and Community Center is the heart of that neighborhood, and is poised to be opened in late 2022. The project is a model for community services integration and resilient development for the region. It replaces the aging park’s infrastructure within a 100-year floodplain, and significantly improves the Center’s facilities, which were inadequate to support the growing demands of the multi-generational, multi-ethnic population.
SWA’s and EYP’s (now Page’s) design approach hinged on the three main concepts: first, a programmatic innovation that combines the City’s library, health, and park services around the concept of multi-dimensional health. Second, framing of the site as the civic “front porch”: a gathering place for the Alief community. Lastly, the team focused on the opportunity to create a new model for resilient development in Houston after the August 2017 Hurricane Harvey flood, elevating the architecture out of the floodplain and developing the park land to absorb flood impacts while providing much-needed recreational amenities.
Shenzhen Bay
Situated just across the bay from Hong Kong, the city of Shenzhen has transformed from a small fishing town of 30,000 to a booming city of over 10 million people in 40 years – and has grown over 200 times its original size since 1980. Along the way, the character of Shenzhen’s bayfront was radically altered. Over 65 km2 of marsh and shallow bay were filled to ...
Portsmouth Square
Portsmouth Square is the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown: the main civic park for all community festivals and events as well as an important day-to-day outdoor living room for the community. Centered in the densest community in the United States west of the Hudson River, the park plays a critical role in the health and well-being of the local residents, ove...
Dongguan Central Park Area
This new 32-hectare park is envisioned as a “livability magnet” in the ongoing renewal of the Dongguan’s Central Business District, intended to attract new talent to the reputed “world’s factory.” SWA conceptualized the park as a living system, inspired by the durable, growing roots of a banyan tree. The design leverages thoughtful soil, water, and planting st...
Elk Grove Civic Center
SWA’s design for this community resource improves upon part of a 56-acre master plan with a civic center campus set within a beautiful park, and an added public outdoor commons. The pedestrian-friendly commons weaves new buildings together with mature trees and an outdoor living space linking together a community center, an aquatics center, and a future librar...