SWA’s master plan for the three Nordic Events venues—the Ski Jumping, Cross Country Skiing, and Biathlon stadia and courses—honors the natural beauty of a spectacular Olympic Winter Games landscape as never before. The venues were originally slated to be located in separate valleys, requiring athletes and spectators to travel from site to site. But in PyeongChang, SWA departed from that logic and instead took their cues from the landscape itself, resulting in the most compact design in Olympic Winter Games history. Locating all events in one valley achieved two goals: creating the most efficient, exciting experience for both athletes and visitors to the Games, and disturbing the region’s steep terrain and pristine pine forests as little as possible. In PyeongChang, pedestrians flowed along a continuous promenade between these venues, saving hours of shuttle bus time while also being immersed in a high-octane sports experience. The arrival sequence to the Ski Jumping Stadium is choreographed to build viewer excitement, where a plaza is flanked by three practice jumps, the monorail that transports athletes, coaches and officials to the tower and Large Hill and Normal Hill in-runs, and the Ski Jumping Stadium itself. Created for Korea’s 2014 Olympic Winter Games bid, summers also bring an active site, with an 18-hole golf course, roller-blade training, and soccer pitch replacing the snow sports.
Minute Maid Park
The much-anticipated ballpark for the Houston Astros, which opened in 2000, includes approximately 42,000 seats, a retractable roof, an attached micro-brewery, and tour bus drop off. SWA, along with Rey de la Reza Architects, designed the entire ballpark site from the building to the curb, including the remodeling of historic Union Station, now part of the sta...
Bunker Hill Steps
Originally designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, downtown Los Angeles’ iconic Bunker Hill Steps connect neighborhoods over a series of grade changes. Under new ownership and with increased traffic from residents and office workers, the space was in need of new life – and more shade from the Southern California sun. SWA updated the planting palette ...
Dickies Arena
Dickies Arena is a multi-purpose facility located on the Will Rogers Memorial Center campus and a certified LEED Silver project. The 17.5-acre site provides more than enough space for the arena to host a multitude of entertainment events without reaching issues of overcapacity. Visitors can attend concerts, sporting events, family shows, conventions, and even ...
Sonoma State Weill Lawn & Commons
Weill Lawn and Commons provide outdoor performance venues at Green Music Center, a world-class performing arts complex. The landscape architects prepared overall master planning and landscape architectural design. A simple, dramatic grading plan unifies project elements, directs circulation, and buffers concert venues from adjacent roadway traffic. Weill Lawn...