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.
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 redesign of this beloved community space offers a fresh approach to today’s urban recreation needs, including separate spaces for 2-5 and 5-12-year-old play, spray play, and passive seating. The new playground embraces and exhibits NYC’s “Parks without Borders” initiative by creating welcoming entrance plazas in where 12-foot fences previously stood.
The design is very cognizant of the existing London plane trees that encircle the site, helping to define its character and offering welcoming shade for recreation and rest. Low-impact design strategies were implemented to preserve trees wherever possible.
Stormwater management strategies are incorporated throughout the site. Native plant material was used to reduce maintenance.
Freedom Park Master Plan
In the late 20th century, Atlanta faced a critical juncture as a proposed highway threatened to tear through seven urban communities. From this crisis emerged a powerful grassroots movement whose victory not only halted the highway but birthed Freedom Park, a 130-acre green space stretching over 2.5 miles.
For years, Freedom Park existed as a patchwork ...
Baton Rouge Lakes
The 275-acre Baton Rouges Lakes system is a series of six lakes in central Baton Rouge adjacent to Louisiana State University, three major parks, and a diverse mix of neighborhoods. Recognizing opportunity in crisis, a newly funded master plan provides sound ecological restoration methods that will heal a dying lake system while reconnecting the region to its ...
Bayou Greenways
As one of the largest U.S. cities, Houston’s sprawling, car-centric infrastructure is underpinned by a vast arterial system of over 2,500 miles of bayous—an untapped ecological feature that could redefine urban life.
Recognizing this potential, the Houston Parks Board worked alongside SWA to develop a visionary plan for nine central bayous as an i...
Riverside Park South
Located on the West Side of Manhattan on the scenic Hudson River shoreline, Riverside Park South is a massive, multiphase project of sweeping ambition and historic scope. Combining new green space, new infrastructure, and the renovation of landmark industrial buildings, the plan – originally devised by Thomas Balsley Associates in 1991 – is an extension of Fre...