Part of the larger Shore Parkway, an 816.1-acre collection of parks that stretches across Brooklyn and Queens, Homecrest Playground originally opened in 1942 with a baseball field, basketball courts, handball courts, and benches for community use. This park redesign focuses on providing different playground and recreation amenities for surrounding residents.
SWA/Balsley created a master plan for the redesign of the north end of the park and final design and construction documents for the first phase of construction. The redesign of this beloved community space offers a fresh approach to today’s urban recreation needs, including separate spaces for 2-5 and 5-12-year-old play, spray play, and passive seating. The new playground embraces and exhibits NYC’s “Parks without Borders” initiative by creating welcoming entrance plazas in where 12-foot fences previously stood.
The design is very cognizant of the existing London plane trees that encircle the site, helping to define its character and offering welcoming shade for recreation and rest. Low-impact design strategies were implemented to preserve trees wherever possible.
Stormwater management strategies are incorporated throughout the site. Native plant material was used to reduce maintenance.
Elk Grove Civic Center
SWA’s design for this community resource improves upon part of a 56-acre master plan with a civic center campus set within a beautiful park, and an added public outdoor commons. The pedestrian-friendly commons weaves new buildings together with mature trees and an outdoor living space linking together a community center, an aquatics center, and a future librar...
Riverside Park South
Located on the West Side of Manhattan on the scenic Hudson River shoreline, Riverside Park South is a massive, multiphase project of sweeping ambition and historic scope. Combining new green space, new infrastructure, and the renovation of landmark industrial buildings, the plan – originally devised by Thomas Balsley Associates in 1991 – is an extension of Fre...
Honggang Park
Nestled between two hills in Shenzhen’s Luohu District, Honggang Park is a green corridor bringing over 80 acres of open space through the city’s dense fabric. Celebrating the site’s stark topography, SWA’s design carefully threads hiking trails along the slopes to minimize ecological disturbance, with stairs providing shortcuts along switchbacks. Altogether, ...
Canvas Park
Canvas Park is an activity-packed recreation center at the heart of Regions North, the latest addition to the growing New Haven community in Ontario. Centering on sports, family play, and social activities, the park offers a 5,000-square-foot lap pool, flexible lawn spaces, sport courts, and reservable outdoor spaces that residents can use for private gatherin...