The Jeffrey Open Space Park represents approximately 96 acres of park and trails, with an average width of 265 ft. The three-mile long spine is designed for passive uses with a network of trails that connect to residential neighborhoods and active recreation parks.
The design process included a series of community workshops to solicit community’s comments, design ideas, and concerns on the project. Based and these workshops the basic program of design character for the corridor was established.
The primary design concept is to create a world-class park system, which serves as an open space connection with the community. SWA’s concept relies on classic Olmsted landscape design principles: simple, beautiful grading and plant massing; and on the creation of a sequential series of spaces. The native, rustic character of the planting material enhances the experience not only for trail users but also for daily commuters driving down Jeffrey Road. The design is meant to provide a fresh sense of place contrasting with the typical “clipped-lawn” character so common in this part of Orange County.
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...
Haden Park
Tucked into a corner of Houston’s Spring Branch district, Haden Park has been reimagined as a shaded, amenity-rich landscape shaped by over a decade of community input. The transformation of the 12-acre site, long overlooked despite its central location, unifies the fragmented layout into a connected civic space, introducing a forest-themed play area, a dog pa...
Buffalo Bend Park
Houston’s East End is a bifurcated community, with heavy industry brushing up against a vibrant and culturally diverse residential area. Answering residents’ call for more park space, SWA created Buffalo Bayou Bend Nature Park by converting a formerly neglected industrial site into a wetland ecosystem and public green space.
Three interconnected ponds, ...
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
In the early 1970s, the National Park Service began the enormous task of creating a new national recreation area in the midst of an urban center—the San Francisco Bay Area, home to 4.5 million people at the time. Riding the wake of the environmental revolution of the late 1960s, the Park Service would need to find consensus among a wide range of constituents, ...