Bensonhurst Park is part of the larger Shore Parkway, an 816.1-acre collection of parks that stretches across Brooklyn and Queens. Today, the site provides a series of pathways, passive seating areas, recreational fields and a playground.
SWA/Balsley created a master plan for the redesign of the north end of the park and final design and construction documents for the first phase of construction. The proposed design features a new central plaza around the comfort station, improved circulation, and separate areas for 2 to 5-year-old and 5 to 12-year-old play. The design addresses NYC’s “Parks without Borders” initiative by seamlessly incorporating existing grade change into the play areas, and providing welcoming plazas at the park entrances.
Native plant material is implemented throughout the site to reduce maintenance. The design is sensitive to existing trees, which are an important part of the site’s character.
Pellier Park
In the heart of downtown San Jose, the first of three new SWA-designed parks celebrates the plum tree and agricultural origins of Silicon Valley. The site is a registered California Historic Landmark and the original nursery of Louis Pellier, known as “ The Prune King’ who introduced the French Prune to the Valley in 1856 and sparked the orchard boom in Calif...
Homecrest Playground
Part of the larger Shore Parkway, an 816.1-acre collection of parks that stretches across Brooklyn and Queens, Homecrest Playground originally opened in 1942 with a baseball field, basketball courts, handball courts, and benches for community use. This park redesign focuses on providing different playground and recreation amenities for surrounding residents. Located between a mountain and river in rapidly growing Changsha, Lianjiang Park commands a critical juncture between city, nature, and a changing way of life. While the Lianjiang region had always been intimately linked to the water, recent urban development has resulted in a significant loss of wetlands, habitats, and the culture they give rise to. In... Identified by the City as one of its “Big Five” open space projects, the conceptual master plan for Nelson Mandela Park will create a much-needed central open space for the city’s south district, an industrial area along the waterfront that is home to a growing and increasingly diverse population. Here the city seeks to transcend its current park paradigm of l...Lianjiang Park
Nelson Mandela Park Master Plan