What if the vast and varied landscapes of Northwest Arkansas surrounded and thrived all around the future Walmart Home Office Campus, reversing the typical expectations of a corporate headquarters campus? Walmart as a corporation has always celebrated its hometown heritage, and so their mandate for the 350-acre campus follows that same instinct: to preserve native ecologies and highlight the natural beauty of Arkansas. The “Big Nature” landscape master plan envisions a seamless campus between Walmart associates and the local Bentonville community, set against the majesty of natural features native to Arkansas, to reinforce holistic well-being. Each corner of the campus invites in the complex mosaic of habitats found throughout the region and honors the distinctive cultures that have been an integral part of the company’s history.
From woodland to wetland features, “quads” of varying size, shape, and program blur the line between what is constructed for the corporation and what is created for the community. Extensive tree canopies, tranquil courtyards, and placid lakes with native plantings, locally sourced materials, and comprehensive stormwater management underscore Walmart’s commitment to sustainability. Outdoor spaces support workplace flexibility, while a cohesive network of streets, walkways, and bikeways connect the campus both internally and with the surrounding community of Bentonville. The resulting work environment promises to become an inclusive and seamless part of its surroundings, attracting future Walmart associates and visitors with its connections to the region’s unique local ecologies and the company’s standing in the world marketplace.
Ichigaya Forest
“Ichigaya Forest” is the privately owned, publicly accessible, major open space on Dai Nippon Printing Company’s 5.4-hectare new world headquarters in the Shinjuku Ward. Vertical development and production modernization that extends underground was made possible the creation of this 3.2-hectare open space. Over half the site is now planted wi...
Hokkaido Ballpark Master Plan
This project includes a new ballpark for Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, the surrounding landscape, and surrounding future development parcels, in Hokkaido, Japan. Inspired by the stadium’s architecture, which responded to a building type original to Hokkaido, the design incorporates indigenous landscape features, including a 100-year forest and a ravine, while ...
NOAH Ethnographic Village
Armenia has set an initiative to increase global tourism and develop a site within its capital city with majestic views of Mount Ararat, where Noah’s Ark is purported to have landed. SWA developed a strategic plan based on several principles derived from the existing context of the site: first, to capitalize its proximity to important landmarks that allow for ...
Houston Green Loop
With the coming expansion and realignment of the highways around Downtown Houston, SWA identified the opportunity to enact a bold vision: a multi-use branded connectivity system that will leverage the immense reconstruction investment. SWA’s concept creates a continuous pedestrian loop over, under, and around the downtown highway system, thus redirecting the u...