The west side of Los Angeles has always been a desirable destination for businesses, visitors, and residents: easily reached by vehicular and public transportation, and with access to the Pacific Ocean. Community clusters have formed within this area, establishing the need for respite within the hustle and bustle of the heavily trafficked Wilshire Boulevard corridor.
SWA’s design for this park expresses multiple overlapping narratives of history, culture, and nature. Within walking distance of Wilshire Park and the former Kuruvungna Springs site of the indigenous Tongva tribe, the park provides a strolling landscape with a variety of grade changes, overlooks, and open lawns with a signature canopy. Open to the public, the park is inspired in part by the geological formations of Los Angeles, notable for horizontal layers that are emphasized in the design.
Santana Row
SWA provided full landscape architectural services for the development of a neo-traditional town center near downtown San Jose. The client’s vision called for a variety of design styles to create a town center with an impression of growth over time. This theme is expressed in building elevations as well as landscape design. The restaurants and boutique r...
Chase Center Entertainment District
Chase Center, the new Golden State Warriors’ arena, anchors and enlivens San Francisco’s emerging Sports and Entertainment District. Integrated along a transit corridor within a formerly industrial part of the city, this new 24/7 facility offers a venue for events of many scales as well as a central public open space that doubles as the neighborhood’s outdoor ...
Poly Pazhou Mixed-Use
The iconic architecture and riverside context that characterize Poly Pazhou were inspirations in this SWA/SOM collaboration, which also took adjoining development in the burgeoning region into account. Broad, sweeping landscape, featuring diverse local plant species, embraces both the soaring buildings and the Pearl River corridor, extending its spatial charac...
RIT Global Village and Global Plaza
Global Village, a pedestrian-only infill neighborhood adjacent to Rochester Institute of Technology’s academic core, and its mixed-use centerpiece, Global Plaza, create a social heart for 17,200 students and 3,600 faculty and staff. The landscape architects and architects collaborated on an urban design that establishes multiple “crossroads” ...