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.
Paveletskaya Plaza
Situated along Moscow’s Ring Road and adjacent to the legendary Paveletsky Station transportation hub, the park at Paveletskaya Plaza will both cover and reveal the new bustling underground retail facility below while also serving as a landmark destination for residents and visitors alike.
The extraordinary retail and architectural vision for Paveletska...
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...
Polliwog Park
Originally built in the 1970s, Polliwog Park is a high-use neighborhood amenity that provides active recreation and play facilities to local families. The original playground was replaced in 2003 but required a full update in 2020 to account for routine flooding. SWA’s design allows the park to remain an active community feature year-round.
In addition ...
Park 101
The ambitious Park 101 aims to cover part of downtown Los Angeles’ 101 Freeway with a multi-purpose park that will include playgrounds, seating, festival areas, and a plaza. The approximately four-block cap park will reconnect the two sections of Downtown that have long been separated by the freeway, greatly enhancing the currently noisy, with much-needed shad...