SWA partnered with the City of Burlingame to transform a surface parking lot into “The Grove,” a vibrant 1-acre community gathering space envisioned as downtown Burlingame’s outdoor living room. Blending urban functionality with engaging public amenities, the design features a grid of deciduous trees, a central glass-clad fountain with a cascading waterfall, communal dining areas, spaces for outdoor games, and a flexible zone for markets, festivals, and performances.
Central to the project is the thoughtful integration of the square on two parcels—one city-owned and one privately developed—into a cohesive hub that reflects Burlingame Avenue’s charm and warmth. At the project’s inception, SWA and Urban Field Studio led an inclusive and thorough community engagement process to ensure alignment with broader downtown revitalization goals, collaborating with the city, local stakeholders, and adjacent property owners.
The design emphasizes the pedestrian experience by expanding walkable areas and creating abundant opportunities for connection and activity. Imaginative features include a nighttime art projection that simulates a creek, paying homage to Burlingame Creek flowing beneath the square. Public restrooms within the cast glass fountain add an artistic and sensory element to the square.
Walmart Home Office
As Walmart evolves in response to a changing workforce and focus on sustainability, the company’s new Home Office campus in Bentonville captures these values over 350 acres—both a blueprint for ecologically sensitive campus design and a renewed anchor at its origin in the Ozarks. More than a headquarters, the campus is a major regional investment for Northwest...
Katy Trail
Katy Trail represents a remarkable resource for the residents of the Dallas Fort Worth region. This project enlivens and makes accessible right-of-way established by the storied, but later abandoned, Missouri-Kansas-Texas (better known as the “Katy”) line, and serves as a unifying element for the surrounding neighborhoods. Katy Trail provides appro...
Hi Line Connector
The Hi Line Connector spans one mile through Dallas’ Design District, linking two of the city’s most valuable urban core public assets: the Katy and Trinity Strand Trails. This transformative project introduces raised bike lanes and enhances the pedestrian experience by improving and realigning existing roadways. Beyond the physical infrastructure,...
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
In the early 1970s, the National Park Service began the enormous task of creating a new national recreation area in the midst of an urban center—the San Francisco Bay Area, home to 4.5 million people at the time. Riding the wake of the environmental revolution of the late 1960s, the Park Service would need to find consensus among a wide range of constituents, ...