Next C Water City is a new, fully self-contained sustainable city planned for 500,000 residents. Water was central to the Next C planning concept, supplied by two adjacent rivers and monsoon rains. The city is a system of wetlands, rivers, lakes, and canals, cleansing the water from up-river communities and managing floods during the monsoon season. Working with SOM’s urban design team, Thomas Balsley Associates strategized an open space plan that consisted of seven primary landscape typologies: Central Parks, Civic Squares, Urban Promenades, Water Edge Parks, Canal Parks, Neighborhood Parks, and Wetland Parks filtering and polishing poor quality water from the Chaobai River prior to discharging into the new city’s extensive waterways and eventually into the Yongding River. Each open space typology collectively provides green links throughout the city, and open space programming relates directly to adjacent land uses. Parks along waterways were designed with each season’s environmental extremes in mind, from dry to flooded, creating unique parks for every season.
Stanford West Apartments
SWA placed a special emphasis on maintaining the riparian corridor with native planting, using consideration when dealing with the archaeologically sensitive areas of the site, as well as existing recreation trails and landscape amenities such as parks and play areas. The internal street grid and architectural and landscape elements are designed to recall the ...
Quail Hill
This mixed-use planned community of over 6,000 people features over 2,000 dwellings in a broad mix of single family detached dwellings, and over 500 multifamily dwellings, complemented by a retail center and 800,000 square feet of flexible development. . Prominent natural landforms such as the Southern Ridge and the three knolls have been preserved and incorpo...
Crest Apartments
Situated within the suburban context of the Los Angeles Valley, Crest Apartments provides 64 residences for the homeless, including 23 reserved for disabled veterans. The building’s striking geometry is complemented by a flexible, multi-layered, and multi-textured landscape that support social, experiential, and environmental programs. The ground cover plant s...
Woodson’s Reserve
This new master-planned community challenges conventional thinking by preserving wetland areas and open space while achieving an optimal mix of housing products and amenities. A robust local economy has elevated demand for both commercial space and single-family housing. The master plan for Woodson’s Reserve targets active families and those who enjoy outdoor ...