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 post-industrial waterfront. Extensive public outreach and charrettes with the community and other stakeholders required reconciling disparate and conflicting goals about the extent of development, re-naturalization and public access to the river.
The schematic design achieved broad consensus and, together with design guidelines, is a comprehensive guide to the incremental mixed-use and park development that will follow. The park is first and foremost dedicated to the restoration of a post-industrial waterfront as a naturalized river edge and riparian habitat. The dense mixed-use development planned along its edge, as well as pedestrian and bike trails, placed the need for access at odds with the habitat goals. Working closely with environmental advocates, the design team devised a rational plan for the park, which strategically places access and activity in “moments” and nodes without compromising the newly-formed habitats. These spaces range from dramatic cantilevered pier overlooks, boat launches and active civic plazas to quiet, sloping lawns meadows and terraces. These spaces, along with the shoreline trail and bikeway, are all intended to serve the park’s diverse constituency and are connected to the city’s riverwalk, bikeway, tramway and light rail systems.
The design celebrates a rich, Native American and industrial logging and ship building heritage with a landscape narrative of cranes, ship’s bows, terraces, log overlooks and bargeways; all expressed in the 21st century design language of our current culture. While South Waterfront Park is unique to Portland’s cultural and historical heritage, it is a model for new urban waterfront parks across the country that must now meet a combination of environmental, cultural and growth goals on common ground.
Sava Promenada at the Belgrade Waterfront
SWA’s role includes creating a detailed master plan, conceptual design, and preparation of design guidelines for a one-million-square-meter (100-hectare) site along the Sava River, next to the historic town center of Belgrade. The developer’s goal is to create a world-class sustainable waterfront development, as the single largest regeneration proj...
Dubai Expo 2020
From October 2021 to April 2022, the City of Dubai will host the World Expo: a large-scale International Registered Exhibition that will bring nations together with universal themes and immersive experiences. It will comprise an entire new city, built on a 1,083-acre site between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The Expo site is organized around a central plaza linked to ...
Hunter's Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point
Perched on the edge of San Francisco Bay, the Hunters Point Shipyard was an important naval manufacturing center for the WWI and WWII war efforts. Now abandoned, the shipyard, along with Candlestick Point, will be combined into a new mixed use residential, retail and light industry development — the largest in San Francisco since WWII. Thomas Balsley Ass...
Next C
Next C Water City is a new, fully self-contained sustainable city planned for 500,000 residents. Water was central to the Next C planning concept, supplied by two adjacent rivers and monsoon rains. The city is a system of wetlands, rivers, lakes, and canals, cleansing the water from up-river communities and managing floods during the monsoon season. Working wi...