Located in the southwest quadrant of the Bridgeland master-planned community, which will house 70,000 residents upon completion, Prairieland Village comprises a variety of land uses adjacent to natural spaces that connect to the Cypress Creek boundary to the north and John Paul’s Landing to the south. At the heart of Prairieland’s design is the relationship between water and nature, best expressed through the project’s commitment to Low Impact Design. Strategies include a network of water capture and cleansing features, including streetside bioswales, detention lakes, and aquatic wetland shelves. Additionally, to promote pollinators within the community, Bridgeland selected native Texan butterflies as the mascot of Prairieland and incorporated them into their educational materials and signage. The related landscape treatment promotes a diversity of native host and nectar plants while minimizing the use of maintained turf.
A key feature of Bridgeland’s low-impact design is the 22-acre Chrysalis Lake, featuring a boardwalk, overlooks, and educational graphics to accompany activities including kayaking and canoeing. An iconic pavilion provides a gathering place for residents to enjoy sunsets and starry nights. Eight bioswale flumes in the neighborhood collect and clean approximately 29 million gallons of rainwater annually, removing up to 90% of pollutants before releasing into the lake, enhancing water quality and mitigating flood risk in Northwest Houston.
Phase one features 6.25 acres of bioswales, 5.3 acres of pollinator plants, a one-mile-long ‘green’ street, 7.5 acres of forestation, 7.3 acres of bottomland meadow, 2.25 miles of aquatic edge, and 1.3 acres of habitat islands.
3Roots
A transformed mining site in Mira Mesa, 3Roots captures San Diego’s innovative spirit, drive, and natural beauty. SWA’s work began with the master plan, including 1,800 new homes, 160,000 square feet of commercial, retail, and office spaces, a five-acre mobility hub, and over 250 acres of parks and open space. The landscape blends the region’s mining her...
Bensonhurst Park
Bensonhurst Park is part of the larger Shore Parkway, an 816.1-acre collection of parks that stretches across Brooklyn and Queens. Today, the site provides a series of pathways, passive seating areas, recreational fields and a playground.
SWA/Balsley created a master plan for the redesign of the north end of the park and final design and construction doc...
Bayou Greenways
While Houston does have significant park spaces and trails, the city of no zoning has historically been unable to create enough designated open spaces and the necessary connectivity between them. The key to increasing the open space network lies within the region’s floodplains. Relatively flat terrain, intense rain events, and urbanized watersheds create broad...
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...