Description: Pacific Park is a major mixed-use development in the Atlantic Terminal area of Brooklyn, New York. When complete, it will occupy approximately 22 acres, including the air rights above the approximately nine-acre, below-grade Long Island Rail Road Storage Yard.
The open space, with an area of about eight acres at grade, is being designed by Thomas Balsley Associates and will be bounded by the residential buildings along the perimeter. Much of the open space will be on top of a “platform” that will cover the rail yard below or on top of below-grade spaces of the buildings.
The landscape will be a cohesive, continuous, and inviting open space with a range of uses and activities, with links from north to south connecting the new development and the surrounding neighborhoods by continuing the existing street system as pedestrian corridors into the open space. The open space will be sheltered from Atlantic Avenue traffic while promoting public access and use. The landscape design will take into account the costs of both construction and future maintenance, a phased implementation strategy with temporary conditions, and a vision for the Pacific Street Terminus – the plaza between buildings B3 and B4.
Dubai Hills Boulevard and Public Realm
Envisioned as a “Garden Oasis” strategically situated where city meets desert, Dubai Hills is 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 – the district’s central spine. For Phase 1, SWA/Bals...
Riverside Park South Open Space Master Plan
As part of an urban design collaborative with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill for this new 65 acre redevelopment, Thomas Balsley Associates led the design effort for the project’s centerpiece, a 26-acre waterfront park on the Hudson River. The effort involved urban design, environmental considerations and a highway relocation; and required a creative, yet pragmat...
South Waterfront Greenway
The new urban plan for South Waterfront includes a 1-1/2 mile extension of downtown’s waterfront parks and the reclamation of the Willamette River for public recreation. The design team worked closely with the City of Portland, developers, and natural resource advocates to strike a balance between development, recreation and re-naturalization of this neglected...
Riverside Park South
On the West Side of Manhattan, on the scenic Hudson River shoreline, 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 plan—originally devised by Thomas Balsley Associates in 1991—is an extension of Frederick Law ...