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

Grand Opening at Neptune Road Celebrates Community of East Boston

The grand opening of Halvorson Design’s open space at Neptune Road in East Boston honored the families who once lived in the neighborhood before the expansion of the airport altered the fabric of the community. The landscape embraces symbols of the neighborhood’s past, from cobblestones tracing the footprints of the original homes to interpretive artwork inspired by reminiscences of former residents. The project is part of an extended effort by Massport to provide open space for the benefit of East Boston residents. Joining the celebration were multiple generations of Neptune Road families.

To read more: http://www.wbur.org/2015/07/10/new-east-boston-park-neptune-road

Ecological Landscape Alliance Hosts Tour of BAC Green Alley

Thanks to Ecological Landscape Alliance for hosting our Boston Architectural College Green Alley Tour. Christian Simonelli from the Boston Groundwater Trust, Art Byers and Maria Bellata from the BAC and Jim Newman from Linnean solutions provided insights into this project and the monitoring systems. The Green Alley was designed by Halvorson Design and Nitsch Engineering and constructed by Valley Crest.

Janet Echelman Sculpture Opens Over Rose Kennedy Greenway

Last night’s celebration of Janet Echelman’s aerial sculpture drew hundreds of visitors to the public garden designed by Halvorson Design Partnership on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. We are excited to see this beautiful and iconic work, entitled "As If It Were Already Here,” meld seamlessly with the landscape below.

Halvorson Design's park is featured in this stunning time-lapse video of the installation: https://vimeo.com/126855070

Shaffer Paper Park Breaks Ground at Former Industrial Waterfront of Neponset River

Yesterday’s groundbreaking of Shaffer Paper Park celebrated the highly anticipated transformation of the 15-acre former industrial site along the Neponset River. The design strategy, which includes efforts to remediate contaminated soils, restore ecological habitat, and create a neighborhood open space for the community of Dorchester, was a collaborative effort between Halvorson Design, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), GEI Consultants, and DeRosa Environmental Consulting.

Channel Center Parks Honored with 2015 Merit Award by Boston Society of Landscape Architects

Halvorson Design is excited to announce that the Channel Center Parks were selected for a 2015 Merit Award by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects! A list of all other award recipients can be found here: http://www.bslaweb.org/awards2015.html.

Team Receives Honorable Mention for Living with Water International Design Competition

Halvorson Design is proud to have been part of the "Living Shorelines for a Resilient Urban Cove" submission team for Boston’s Living With Water International Design Competition. The submission received an honorable mention and is currently on display at the Boston Society of Architects.