Weill Lawn and Commons provide outdoor performance venues at Green Music Center, a world-class performing arts complex. The landscape architects prepared overall master planning and landscape architectural design. A simple, dramatic grading plan unifies project elements, directs circulation, and buffers concert venues from adjacent roadway traffic. Weill Lawn is the first acoustically protected outdoor venue on the West Coast for symphony orchestra and other highly polished musical performances. The lawn complements architect William Rawn’s design for the 1,600-seat Joan and Sanford I. Weill Concert Hall, which opened in September 2012 and is generally considered one of the world’s most acoustically superb concert venues. When the pavilion’s back wall is opened, Weill Lawn expands its interior capacity with a series of lawn terraces that accommodate up to 5,000 visitors in chairs or 1,600 seated at tables. Weill Commons provides a larger, informal amphitheater for 10,000 along with an open-air pavilion for major gatherings.
Work attributed to SWA/Balsley principal John Wong and his team with SWA Group.
Columbia University Landscape Master Plan
As part of a larger development framework plan by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects, Thomas Balsley Associates was commissioned to prepare a landscape master plan for this important historical campus.
The work began with extensive historical research into the original McKim Mead & White plan and Olmsted writings as well as an assessment of current camp...
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
This project regenerates a spectacular, historic cliff-side waterfront site by activating it with new purpose. Working carefully to interweave layers of preservation and natural beauty, the building and landscape work together to leave a light footprint. Today, a distinctive global campus honors the history of its earlier occupation while providing inspiration...
Samsung Electronics Training Center
Evolving trends in technology and the need to build a new, state-of-the-art Electronics Training Center allowed Samsung to commission the collaborative team of Samoo Architects and Thomas Balsley Associates for the design of their new facility in Keyonggi-Do Province in Korea. Essential to both Samsung and the design team was a site design solution that would ...
CSULB Liberal Arts Courtyards
The programming and design of the Liberal Art Courtyards were the result of the successful landscape master plan for 322 acres, completed by SWA in 2012 and enhancing the existing campus aesthetic and experience while improving functional relationships for its students, faculty, and community. Considerations included a wealth of open spaces largely devoted to ...