The west side of Los Angeles has always been a desirable destination for businesses, visitors, and residents: easily reached by vehicular and public transportation, and with access to the Pacific Ocean. Community clusters have formed within this area, establishing the need for respite within the hustle and bustle of the heavily trafficked Wilshire Boulevard corridor.
SWA’s design for this park expresses multiple overlapping narratives of history, culture, and nature. Within walking distance of Wilshire Park and the former Kuruvungna Springs site of the indigenous Tongva tribe, the park provides a strolling landscape with a variety of grade changes, overlooks, and open lawns with a signature canopy. Open to the public, the park is inspired in part by the geological formations of Los Angeles, notable for horizontal layers that are emphasized in the design.
Santana Row
SWA provided full landscape architectural services for the development of a neo-traditional town center near downtown San Jose. The client’s vision called for a variety of design styles to create a town center with an impression of growth over time. This theme is expressed in building elevations as well as landscape design. The restaurants and boutique r...
Kasumigaseki Plaza Renewal
Tokyo’s first high-rise and architectural landmark is located in the heart of downtown, where government and major private business offices are concentrated. Urban growth changed the dynamics of the building’s surroundings and left its public spaces ineffective and barren. The addition of new mixed-use buildings provided the owners with an opportunity to bring...
Avenida Houston
For many visitors, the George R. Brown Convention Center serves as Downtown Houston’s gateway. Ahead of hosting the Super Bowl, city officials sought to transform the convention center’s uninspiring eight-lane drop-off into a pedestrian plaza for civic enrichment, art, and leisure. SWA took on this ambitious 140,000-square-foot redesign, converting five city b...
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
This office building’s roof garden celebrates a potent image of the native Texas landscape: the level, grass-covered plains emerging from a wooded riparian area. A design vocabulary of native, drought-tolerant plant materials, especially selected to react to light and air movement, reinforces this design approach. The project serves as a two-acre rooftop garde...