While residents and businesses are clearly proud of the City of Thousand Oaks’ two-decade-long “Tree City USA” designation, recent drought conditions created an urgent need for the City to decrease grassy landscapes and update maintenance practices. As a key part of these efforts, the City selected SWA, along with team partners Planning & Energy/Entitlement Services and Rincon, to update its 26-year-old Forestry Master Plan. The process involved community engagement, including the development of a comprehensive outreach booklet; City staff meetings; and research and analysis to develop plant palettes, planting guidelines, and maintenance recommendations that will help the City sustainably manage their community forest.
Through online surveys and community workshops, the team solicited residents’ input on the future of Thousand Oaks’ landscape character. SWA facilitated discussions about how to adapt, but also preserve, the city’s landscape identity. Elements include drought-tolerant species, increased habitat for butterfly/pollinator species, solar irrigation clocks, and a one-shrub-to-one-bubbler ratio to ease maintenance.
The updated Forestry Master Plan provides the City with a framework for selecting the right tree for the right place; incorporating more drought-tolerant and California native planting materials in public rights-of-way; and increasing the community forest’s resilience during times of drought and climate change.
Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park
Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park was envisioned as an international model of urban ecology and a world laboratory for innovative sustainable thinking. The project is a collaboration between Thomas Balsley Associates and WEISS/MANFREDI for the open space and park design with ARUP as the prime consultant and infrastructure designer.
What was once a ba...
Buffalo Bayou Park
This thoroughly renovated, 160-acre public space deploys a vigorous agenda of urban ecological services and improved pedestrian accessibility, with two new bridges connecting surrounding neighborhoods. The design utilizes channel stabilization techniques, enhancing the bayou’s natural meanders and offering increased resiliency against floodwaters while preserv...
Houston’s Gateway Art Bridges : I-59/69 Beautification
As a city dominated by freeway infrastructure, Houston will be reconstructing portions of its iconic freeways in the near future. This created an opportunity for SWA to reclaim the Houston Interstate experience with a temporary art installation that provides a bold pop of color celebrating Houston’s diversity at eight key threshold bridges along the I-59/69 co...
Shunde New City
The Pearl River Delta is the second largest bird migration delta and estuary in Southeast Asia. Preserving and restoring bird and wildlife corridors while also providing regional connectivity, transportation, and development options is at the pinnacle of today’s development challenges. In the Shunde New City Plan, urban development and nature are integra...