SWA was tasked with creating a neighborhood gathering space and exterior dining hall that is an exercise in contradictions — open and welcoming, while able to be walled off. By blending urban planning, landscape architecture, interior design, and architecture with an understanding of retail real estate, the team was able to quickly establish development yields and comprehensive visions for the site. This method can help clients establish land value and facilitate real estate transactions, as occurred in this instance after an intensive retail placemaking workshop. Taking plans a step further, SWA created a comprehensive vision for the landscape that was used by developers to help gain the support of residents and businesses.
To embrace the neighborhood’s signifiers without using symbols, the answer was art: in the forms of security, cultural identity features, and welcoming gathering spaces. In addition to custom fencing depicting the native plants and weeds that existed across the site pre-development, the act of opening the gates is a play on lifting back the weeds that represent the neglect this underserved neighborhood once experienced. Despite a series of construction challenges, the result is a vibrant outdoor space rooted in the local Long Beach community’s cultural character.
OCT Bay
Located in Shenzhen, OCT Bay has a combined site area of approximately 1.25 square kilometers including equal parts new urban center and nature preserve. SWA provided both master planning and landscape architectural services for the entire site. As a new urban cultural and entertainment destination, OCT Bay provides urban amenities, entertainment components, p...
Monet Avenue 2.0 at Victoria Gardens
A decade after completing Victoria Gardens, the owner was looking to refresh the project to keep it relevant for years to come. SWA redesigned a three-block streetscape and plaza along Monet Avenue, a main retail street there. The focus is on the next generation of users, with a shopping environment that highlights the social landscape and blurs the lines betw...
Jianhua Mixed-Use Center
Located at the Western base of Baiyun Mountain, this mixed-use center captures the landmark peak’s influence on the site. In contrast to a modern architectural facade, the fluid and organic landscape suggests the erosion of the preexisting baserock by the adjacent creek. Stone is the main landscape material, and CNC technology is used to accomplish the organic...
Downtown Summerlin
Downtown Summerlin is a 109-acre, high-end retail and entertainment lifestyle center forming the heart of a 22,500-acre master-planned community in the western suburbs of Las Vegas. The landscape design emphasizes the need for comfort and shade while drawing upon the natural desert environment as a visual source for materials, colors, and textures. By distilli...