New CityCenter Brings Green Public Space to Downtown D.C. | Sustainable Cities Collective The 10-acre CityCenterDC, the largest redevelopment project currently underway in any downtown in an American city, looks like a people-friendly design. Incorporating a generous new park and central plaza, along with green roofs and gardens set within commercial and residential buildings, the development may present an improved model for how to integrate sustainable design elements into a major urban redevelopment project. The redevelopment of the site of the old DC convention center is being led by Hines | Archstone. Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, a landscape architecture firm, is creating the site master plan along with Foster + Partners, and also running the landscape design, working with DC-based Lee & Associates. Kathryn Gustafson, FASLA, said “in addition to creating a major new residential and retail hub, CityCenterDC will create a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, with park and walkways.” According to Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, the design of the new public spaces were guided by a few core ideas, namely restore the original DC street grid, limit car access, and create green public spaces set within mixed-use development. The team recognized the need to restore L’Enfant’s original plan and “reinstate I Street and 10th Street, thereby extending the urban fabric of the city;” integrate the development into the neighborhood by “incorporating small pedestrian alleyways with limited vehicular access”; and create an “inviting and exceptional destination featuring signature retail and dining establishments, engaging public spaces with seasonal programming, and a mix of housing opportunities.” Using L’Enfant’s original street grid as a “framework for a pedestrian-oriented” neighborhood, the development will include a new Northwest Park and central plaza. “The centerpiece of Northwest Park are a pair of fountains which frame the experience of entering the park with the sound of rushing water and a controlled perspective view of the new neighborhood and the entrance to Central Plaza. On either side of the fountains, two areas provide a variety of seating options under a generous canopy of trees.”

New CityCenter Brings Green Public Space to Downtown D.C. | Sustainable Cities Collective

The 10-acre CityCenterDC, the largest redevelopment project currently underway in any downtown in an American city, looks like a people-friendly design. Incorporating a generous new park and central plaza, along with green roofs and gardens set within commercial and residential buildings, the development may present an improved model for how to integrate sustainable design elements into a major urban redevelopment project. The redevelopment of the site of the old DC convention center is being led by Hines | Archstone. Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, a landscape architecture firm, is creating the site master plan along with Foster + Partners, and also running the landscape design, working with DC-based Lee & Associates. Kathryn Gustafson, FASLA, said “in addition to creating a major new residential and retail hub, CityCenterDC will create a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, with park and walkways.”

According to Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, the design of the new public spaces were guided by a few core ideas, namely restore the original DC street grid, limit car access, and create green public spaces set within mixed-use development. The team recognized the need to restore L’Enfant’s original plan and “reinstate I Street and 10th Street, thereby extending the urban fabric of the city;” integrate the development into the neighborhood by “incorporating small pedestrian alleyways with limited vehicular access”; and create an “inviting and exceptional destination featuring signature retail and dining establishments, engaging public spaces with seasonal programming, and a mix of housing opportunities.”

Using L’Enfant’s original street grid as a “framework for a pedestrian-oriented” neighborhood, the development will include a new Northwest Park and central plaza. “The centerpiece of Northwest Park are a pair of fountains which frame the experience of entering the park with the sound of rushing water and a controlled perspective view of the new neighborhood and the entrance to Central Plaza. On either side of the fountains, two areas provide a variety of seating options under a generous canopy of trees.”

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