“[Riverside Park South] is a massive, multi-phase project of sweeping ambition and historic scope. Combining new greenspace, new infrastructure, and the renovation of landmark industrial buildings, the ….bold scheme calls for the elevated Miller Highway, long a barrier between the city and its waterfront, to be dropped to grade and covered with a park, affording unimpeded access from upland neighborhoods to their riverfront.
– Damian Holmes, World Landscape Architect
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 Frederick Law Olmsted’s famed Riverside Park, carrying it a further 13 blocks beyond its traditional southern boundary. At the same time, the scheme calls for the elevated Miller Highway (long a barrier between the city and its waterfront) to be replaced by an underground tunnel topped by lawns and surface streets, affording unimpeded access from new high-rise apartment buildings and upland neighborhoods to the parks and paths along the river.
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...
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, ...
St Johns Riverfront Design Incentive Strategy
As part of a larger effort to establish its downtown as a center for business and culture during a period of unprecedented growth, the City of Jacksonville was in need of a design and investment strategy for its underused waterfront along both banks of the St. Johns River. The design team’s approach entails both a large-scale and a node-based strategy, identif...
Dubai Hills Boulevard and Public Realm
Envisioned as a garden oasis strategically situated where city meets desert, Dubai Hills will be a vibrant yet elegant mixed-use community for 21st-century living. The key public realm element of this massive 1,000-hectare development is a 5.6-kilometer urban boulevard lined with shops, residences, and offices along the district’s central spine. SWA/Balsley de...