“The cultural significance of the park—stretching over Interstate 35E, reconnecting neighborhoods in Oak Cliff that had been physically and economically separated for decades—cannot be overstated. This park has the potential to change Dallas for the better … Halperin Park represents Dallas at its best.”
– Dallas Morning News Editorial Board
In the 1950s, I-35E was routed through the South Dallas community of Oak Cliff, demolishing a thriving Black commercial corridor and one of the first Freedmen’s towns established after the Civil War. In the decades that followed, as in so many cities across the U.S., freeway construction severed long-standing social and economic ties and set in motion decades of disinvestment.
Halperin Park, opened in 2026 after nearly a decade of advocacy and engagement, begins to repair the divide, spanning the highway between Ewing and Marsalis Avenues and restoring a walkable connection along the original path of 12th Street. Designed by SWA and HKS, the park translates Oak Cliff’s cultural and environmental history into built form, with sculptural landforms recalling the limestone and shale geology beneath the neighborhood, shaping subtle grade changes that guide movement and frame views toward the downtown skyline.
Across the deck, a sequence of public spaces includes a walkable promenade and Oak Cliff Walk of Fame along the original path of 12th Street, mass-timber bandshell and multipurpose pavilion, flexible great lawn, treehouse-inspired playground, perennial gardens, shaded seating, and two water features that extend comfort through North Texas summers. Opened amid a nationwide reckoning with the damage caused by midcentury highway construction, Halperin Park is rooted in Oak Cliff history while joining a broader effort to reclaim freeway infrastructure as public ground.
Dongguan Central Park Area
This new 32-hectare park is envisioned as a “livability magnet” in the ongoing renewal of the Dongguan’s Central Business District, intended to attract new talent to the reputed “world’s factory.” SWA conceptualized the park as a living system, inspired by the durable, growing roots of a banyan tree. The design leverages thoughtful soil, water, and planting st...
The Memorial at Harvey Milk Plaza
Harvey Milk Plaza is located in the heart of San Francisco’s Castro Neighborhood, and hosts one of the city’s busiest transit hubs. The plaza has been the site of countless gatherings and protests, including a candlelight vigil the night of Harvey’s untimely death and the White Night riots, which were sparked by the leniency of the sentence handed down to his ...
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...
Changchun Tractor Factory Renovation
Once-industrial site re-imagined as a commercial complex with eye-catching public spaces.
For this site, which was once an industrial tractor factory that epitomized Changchun’s thriving industrial past, SWA provided conceptual design through implementation to transform the former of Changchun Tractor Factory into an eye-catching public realm that fulfi...