Fall Events with Halvorson Design

The Halvorson Design team is participating in some of the great industry conferences coming this fall. If you are attending the ASLA Annual Meeting in New Orleans or if you're sticking closer to home for ABX 2016, be sure to find our leaders sharing their expertise.

Complete & Green:
Successful Case Studies in Multi-Modal / Green Infrastructure

Monday, October 24 at 3:30pm
ASLA Annual Meeting - Morial Convention Center, New Orleans

Using recent case studies with the City of Cambridge, Halvorson Design principal, Cynthia Smith, will focus on innovative strategies for multi-modal green infrastructure for urban streets. By bringing together diverse perspectives including a landscape architect, engineer and city official, this panel will compare various built projects and share lessons learned.

To attend this event, visit the ASLA Annual Meeting website.

Making Urban Spaces

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15 AT 10AM
ABX 2016 - BOSTON CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTER

Three experts in their field, including Halvorson Design president, Bob Uhlig, will present current trends in placemaking for urban public spaces. By engaging in lively discussion, the panel will answer questions such as how programming and design work together in an era of ever more crowded cities; how artwork can inform and influence park design; and how pop-up parks and temporary structures present opportunities and challenges to the landscape, to name a few. (This presentation is eligible for 1.5 LA CES credits through the BSLA.)

For more on this event and how to attend, visit the ABX 2016 website.

Rising Sea Levels: Design Strategies for Waterfront Projects

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17 AT 8AM
ABX 2016 - BOSTON CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTER

Join Halvorson Design's Rob Adams and colleagues from Fort Point Associates and The Architectural Team as they discuss new ways of thinking in resiliency and urban design for successful waterfront redevelopment projects through the case study of Clippership Wharf, a mixed use development pursuing an aggressive 100-year resiliency strategy. The panel will examine strategies such as living shorelines and elevated public use areas to safeguard projects, increase resiliency, provide an attractive appearance and allow pedestrian access to waterfront development.

For more on this event and how to attend, visit the ABX 2016 website.

Halvorson Design Develops Public Realm Vision for Wharf District

In an effort to improve public access and circulation in Boston's Wharf District, Halvorson Design worked with the Wharf District Council to devise a vision for the public realm at the intersection of the city's Financial and Seaport Districts. 

Read more in September's Boston Business Journal article:
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate/2016/09/take-a-look-at-the-wharf-district-council-s.html

"Extraordinary Placescapes" Exhibit Hits the Road

On October 6th, the Design Museum Boston will be debuting its traveling exhibition, “Extraordinary Placescapes,” in Portland, Oregon. The exhibit features the importance of place and how designers translate play objectives into innovative outdoor play environments. Included in the 40 case studies of exceptional spaces is Halvorson Design’s Appalachian Mountain Club Highland Center in Crawford Notch, NH. The Highland Center is a model of sustainable design on 26 acres and includes a learning playscape adjacent to the Lodge. If your travels find you in Portland this fall/winter season, stop by the Design Museum and experience this one-of-a-kind interactive exhibit.

Halvorson Design Welcomes Director of Marketing

Kristin joins Halvorson Design after managing marketing and proposal efforts at Arrowstreet. She has grown her marketing career in Boston's architectural and commercial real estate industries and views the development of urban environments through a holistic lens. Kristin strives to clearly communicate complex ideas to a wide audience and believes in the importance of developing strong relationships with clients and colleagues as a means of building successful projects. While at Arrowstreet, Kristin assisted with the launch of a robust social media campaign and fully integrated website. She is a member of the Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) Boston chapter and is an active participant in the Education Committee.

More about Kristin

Tremont Crossing developers looking to create 'city within a city'

Utilizing vacant land remaining from the I-95 corridor designed in the 1970's, P-3 Partners in collaboration with Cambridge Seven Architects, Halvorson Design and Bohler Engineering have begun designs for Tremont Crossing, "a city within a city." This vacant land at the geographical center of Boston is set to hold something for everyone and will include office space, a hotel, a grocery store, a movie theater, retail/restaurant spaces and residential apartments. What sets Tremont Crossing apart is its cultural component and connection to the community. This connection is being made possible by Elma Lewis Partners and will include 31,000 square feet of museum space with provisions for educational teaching for the arts, performance and screening space, and opportunities for artistic exhibitions.

Working with Cambridge Seven Architects, Halvorson Design has been engaged to create a vibrant pedestrian experience that will energize the neighborhood and unify it with the surrounding educational institutions. Halvorson Design’s role includes the design and activation of a public plaza that flows into the newly created Market Street

I-95 was supposed to go through the property P-3 Partners is looking to transform into what they call "Tremont Crossing."

The Leadership Landscape at Halvorson Design is Evolving

Celebrating the promotion of our colleagues 

Robert Adams ASLA Principal

Rob has been a part of the Halvorson team for the past twenty years. Rob's skills as a landscape architect and his confident public presence quickly elevated him into a leadership role. A talented designer and project manager, Rob's award winning projects include The Channel Center Parks and Ulfeder Healing Garden at Mass. General Hospital.

More about Rob

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Joseph Ficociello RLA Senior Associate

Drawn to landscape architecture by the opportunity to shape how a person experiences exterior spaces, Joe loves the challenge in each project and the opportunities to apply innovative ideas and techniques. He is currently working on the South Street Landing Project in Providence, RI which includes a new urban coastal greenway, new residential apartments, reuse of an historic power station into research space, and reimagining an existing streetscape.

More about Joe

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Richard Houghton RLA CDT Senior Associate 

Rich has a lifelong love for the outdoors, from the excitement of a civic event to quiet reflection along a forest trail.  He has over ten years experience providing clients with thoughtful and site specific design solutions, enhancing each site's unique context, characteristics and programmatic opportunities. His recent projects include Adams Hancock Green which will transform downtown Quincy, MA into a focal point for the city that includes an activated park and streetscape that connects cyclists and pedestrians to downtown.

More about Rich

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Iris Yung-Ching Lin RLA LEED AP Associate

Trained as an engineer with great admiration for nature and art, Iris seeks to combine functionality with artistic expression in her designs. Most recently Iris was involved in the Port Norfolk Park project which transformed a post-industrial contaminated site into a passive use park designed to bring people back to the once abandoned land and to enjoy views of the waterfront and diverse wildlife.  

More about Iris

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Kenneth McClure RLA Associate 

Ken enjoys working with clients, contractors and community officials as well as marketing and business development. Truly a "people person," Ken is inspired by how the transformation of the landscape can benefit people. He is particularly skilled at conceptual design, planting design, 3D visualization, construction documentation and construction administration. Ken's recent work includes Northwest Park, an inviting green space and creative stormwater solution, at 3rd Ave Burlington.

More about Ken

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Shannon Lane RLA Associate

Shannon's deep appreciation for ecology and sustainability attracted her to landscape architecture. Her responsibilities include site planning and design, planting design and construction documentation. Currently Shannon is working on Clippership Wharf, a waterfront residential project in East Boston. Having lived on the coast for her entire life she has a great understanding of tidal systems, which helped to develop the dynamic design approach.

More about Shannon

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Kelly Auld Associate | Director of Marketing

Kelly expertly coordinates proposals, qualifications, presentations, and administers Halvorson Design's web site, social media and public relations initiatives. Her most recent accomplishments include designing the new Halvorson Design Website as a completely in-house effort. When not in the office Kelly can be found performing in local community theatre productions.

More about Kelly

Awards Granted to Stoneman Centennial Park and Atlantic Wharf

The Boston Society of Landscape Architects has recognized two projects by Halvorson Design with 2016 Merit Awards for Design. We are honored that the BSLA has acknowldged the unique achievements of each project and their contributions to the urban fabric of Boston.

Thea and James M. Stoneman Centennial Park

The Thea and James M. Stoneman Centennial Park at Brigham and Women's Hospital is celebrated for its design complexity and success at integrating the landscape with below-grade structures. The landscape design balances the multi-layered objectives of supporting open space program, improving accessibility and urban connections, and integrating the concerns of sustainability and structural limitations, resulting in an open, inviting landscape that contributes to the urban fabric of the Mission Hill community.

Atlantic Wharf

Atlantic Wharf demonstrates a high level of refinement in project details along with the accommodation of flexible outdoor program, including concerts, film screenings and interactive art displays. Incorporating historic architecture and LEED Platinum certified new construction, the project brings vibrant park activity directly to the waterfront and serves as a significant landmark along the Boston HarborWalk.

To learn more about these projects, please contact:

Thea and James M. Stoneman Centennial Park
Cynthia Smith, Principal-in-Charge | cynthia@halvorsondesign.com

Atlantic Wharf
Bob Uhlig, Principal-in-Charge | bobu@halvorsondesign.com

WWI Memorial Design Competition Finalists

We are so excited to be a part of the Johnsen Schmaling Architects design team, selected as a finalist for the WWI Memorial Design Competition in Washington DC, along with ARUP and George Sexton Associates.  

Below is  some information on our team's submission: The Plaza to a Forgotten War.

The Jury will announce the winning design team on January 25th. Please stop by the United States World War One Centennial Commission website and support our design! 

The Plaza to a Forgotten War is a memorial and urban park dedicated to the heroic sacrifices made by Americans during World War I. An expansive, linear field of inground fiber-optic lights fills the center of the site, forming a dense and seemingly endless grid of illuminated markers that conveys the staggering scale of losses endured.

Sculptural cast-bronze pillars march down the field of lights, their weathering skins carrying milled imagery of the novel war machines that rendered this conflict so unprecedentedly destructive.

The bronze pillars support  precious, cast-glass monoliths, their translucent surfaces inscribed with intimate letters from servicemen and women torn between hope and despair.

Linear benches provide visitors a place of contemplation, inviting them to rest and share in a collective sense of remembrance.

Allées of Pin Oaks bracket the granite-paved plaza and provide shade, leading to a small grove next to the restored Pershing Memorial where the General solemnly stands watch over the field of lights.

Evoking the rolling battlefields of Europe, sloped meadows embrace the plaza’s perimeter like clasping hands, creating a soft, undulating buffer that bursts into a sea of crimson poppies every spring.

Acting as an informal counterpoint to the strict formality of the memorial itself, the northern half of the site transforms into a great lawn bordered by the mature trees of Pennsylvania Avenue, a greenspace offering visual repose designed for recreation and programmed events.

The site’s landscape features weave together the carefully choreographed layers of meaning, creating an inviting and sustainable urban park that devotedly holds onto the memory of a momentous war while accommodating the vibrancy of contemporary life — a dignified memorial plaza that faithfully upholds Washington’s distinguished legacy of monuments paying tribute to our nation’s unsung heroes.

Ames Shovel Works Project Wins National Trust for Historic Preservation Award

The Ames Shovel Works project recently received the National Trust for Historic Preservation Driehaus Preservation Award. Working with developer Beacon Communities and Architects Prellwitz Chilinski Associates, Halvorson Design is responsible for the design of 4 acres of open space within this 8.3-acre site. 

Adaptive reuse of the historic buildings and grounds features 113 residences, 1.5 acres of accessible public park space, a new wastewater treatment facility, and certified LEED Gold and Silver buildings.

Ames Shovel Works, which once controlled 60% of the world market for shovels, was instrumental in the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad, Panama and Erie Canals, and the Statue of Liberty. Additionally, the Ames family gave millions to the Town of Easton and commissioned several works for the Town by such notables as H.H. Richardson, Frederick Law Olmsted and Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Oliver Ames Memorial - Before

Oliver Ames Memorial - After

Unofficial Town Bell

Creation of the 1.5-acre public park included the restoration of the Oliver Ames Memorial that is located on site. Also, the unofficial town bell that signaled the beginning and the end of the work day at Ames Shovel was retrieved from one of the building cupolas and is proudly displayed as a feature of the park. 

An unexpected but fortuitous find was an enormous water wheel which once provided power for the factory before the Shovel Works converted to steam power. The water wheel and its original granite supports were restored and are featured prominently as a landmark focal point as one approaches the site from Main Street.

The site houses a new wastewater treatment plant that not only serves the residential project but also provides much needed sewer infrastructure for the town core located in close proximity.  As a result of the completion of this project, several new restaurants and shops have opened in the town core. The once desolate Main Street that in the past drivers sped through now requires drivers to slow down due to the revitalization of local businesses and the presence of pedestrians. 

It was understood that the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant and stormwater infiltration tanks would require displacement of tons of earth. In the midst of the site work process, the development team surprisingly discovered that the earth was much rockier than previously anticipated. A decision needed to be made: treat the rocky fill as a waste product and haul it away, cover it up, or treat it as a valuable resource and incorporate it into the site design. The design team chose to treat it as a valuable resource. The larger boulders were utilized as site features and seating elements. The mountains of crusty and dirty rocks were transformed into reclaimed ornamental mulch that serves as the predominant unifying element throughout the site, celebrating the craftsmanship of the original masonry factory buildings with its varied stone sizes and serving as a cue to the site’s regional identity and industrial nature of the factory.

The design of the ground plane elements – the angular walkways and landscape areas – reinforces the dynamic nature of the industrial site as well as offers hints to the modern interior architecture and design. The sidewalk layout mimics the assembly line process, a manufacturing method used at Ames 50 years before the assembly lines of the Ford era. In this expression, lines converge at a node, and an action occurs at that moment, expressed in the colored concrete patterns at sidewalk intersections. The widening and narrowing of the sidewalks conveys a sense of compression and expansion as one walks through the site.

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In keeping with the historical significance of the site, the plant palette includes landscape plants that were used by the Olmsted Brothers at the nearby Rockery War Memorial. Common favorites such as dogwoods, shrub roses and viburnums were chosen, along with a few lesser-used ornamentals such as White Indian Currant (Symphoricarpus orbiculata). The use of showy ornamentals is limited in the landscape palette; the majority of the plant selections were chosen for their drought-tolerant and adaptive qualities. The landscape earned 5 credits towards LEED Gold and Silver certifications (certifications were awarded per building).

The historically sensitive yet contemporary landscape design ultimately saved construction dollars, reduced future landscape maintenance costs and helped to create an adaptive reuse community that once again is a great source of local pride for the Town of Easton.

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For more information on the Ames Shovel Works National Award:

Wicked Local/Mansfield Article on Ames Shovel Works

National Trust for Historic Preservation's video on Ames Shovel Works:

Atlantic Wharf Featured on Landezine

Halvorson Design's Atlantic Wharf project was recently featured on Landezine.com. Developed by Boston Properties, the project includes adaptive reuse of two historic buildings with a tower addition by CBT Architects. The vision for Atlantic Wharf extended beyond restoration of the historic architecture to include a reinvigoration of the waterfront, bringing active urban life to the Harborwalk and achieving ambitious sustainable objectives for the entire site.

Halvorson Design is responsible for the Harborwalk, plaza, and vegetated green roof design. 

View the featured project: http://www.landezine.com/index.php/2015/11/atlantic-wharf-by-halvorson-design-partnership