With the coming expansion and realignment of the highways around Downtown Houston, SWA identified the opportunity to enact a bold vision: a multi-use branded connectivity system that will leverage the immense reconstruction investment. SWA’s concept creates a continuous pedestrian loop over, under, and around the downtown highway system, thus redirecting the unpleasant experience and appearance of the freeway infrastructure into unique pedestrian-scale experiences while creating meaningful exchanges among neighborhoods and urban districts. The loop re-imagines the civic commons by artfully negotiating topography, land use, and natural resources. The renderings aim to demonstrate strategic investment zones that have the potential to initiate development of the Houston Green Loop. These visuals successfully served as a tool for communicating possibilities and investment value to the mayor’s stakeholder committee, which is comprised of prominent city officials, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists. As one example of a sustainable gesture along the Loop, at Frostown Crossing, the design proposal creates an outdoor amenity along a detention pond that is activated by the restoration of a historic bridge.
Diridon Station Area Plan
In the area around Diridon Station, the City of San José and the greater Bay Area region have the unique opportunity to build an internationally prominent transportation hub and to develop a world-class destination. This plan weaves new ideas and new development possibilities into the city’s distinctive neighborhoods and existing urban fabric. Large proposals,...
Luohu Station
Luohu Land Port and Train Station is a border control area and the busiest place in Shenzhen, China. As such, the city was faced with the challenge of moving as many as 600,000 people per day and determined to build a subway. Under the auspices of the Shenzhen Municipal Planning Bureau, a team of consultants from eight different countries worked together on th...
Bagby Street Improvement Plan
The Bagby Street Improvements Project brings a complete renovation and transformation of one of Houston’s most important cultural and civic corridors. As the western gateway to downtown, Bagby Street is home to City Hall, the Central Library, major theater and entertainment venues, hotels, and some of Houston’s most significant urban parks.
Utilizing th...
Rosemont Pedestrian Bridge and Trails
The Rosemont Bridge and connecting trails layer pedestrian infrastructure onto the Buffalo Bayou corridor in Houston, Texas and is a significant step in realizing the larger vision of a more accessible Houston. Running through downtown Houston, Buffalo Bayou is one of the significant natural bayou corridors in the City, but is cut off from adjacent neighborhoo...