A new residential tower has risen across the street from the Empire State Building. As a zoning incentive, a new public plaza was included to attract and accommodate the area’s tourists as well as its diverse office and residential neighborhood. The space is defined by a clean, contemporary design composition of spaces, elements, and custom furniture meant to foster social seating. With very little sunlight available, the design has embraced glass-enclosed light elements such as pylons, feature walls, wall coping,s and in-ground linear fixtures to enrich the environment. Given the dearth of open spaces in the area and the high demand that was predicted through extensive research, a strategy for public seating choices was employed. A long distinctive banquette and entrance path is an armature from which shaded gardens, picnic tables, and a raised seating overlook are arranged. The plaza has become an oasis of social activity throughout the day and brings tourists and hard-core New Yorkers together in a communal setting.
Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel
SWA provided full landscape architectural services for this mixed-use development, which includes a 120-room luxury hotel, five villa residences, a supporting office complex, fitness center, spa and multi-use space. The Sand Hill Hotel and associated offices are nestled onto a dramatic hillside that slopes toward the Santa Cruz Mountains immediately beyond I-2...
Guangzhou Vanke Center
Guangzhou Vanke Center incorporates commercial, and office uses in an urban setting. To echo the “cascading” concept of the architectural design, the landscape architecture was inspired by the fluidity of water, as well as the unique local cultural heritage of dragon boats. The design provides for different types of social activity with variously scaled spaces...
Williams Square
For decades, Williams Square has been the walkable “living room” for Irving, Texas’s Las Colinas community. The plaza’s iconic bronze mustang sculptures, designed by artist Robert Glen, are among the state’s most iconic landscape features, speaking to the state’s identity and history.
SWA’s engagement with the plaza is longstanding, dating back to the 1...
Poly Zhuhai
Poly Zhuhai, a large mixed-use development, is located at the central axis of Hengqin Island, a transformed landfill site near Macao. The site is south of the small Hengqin Mountain, facing a civic sports park on the other side.
The main office tower has a large, square footprint, elevated six to seven meters above the street level, with retail programs...