Project Service: Engineering

Civic Center Park (Unbuilt)

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CGA reimagined a vacant lot outside of the Community Center that would inherently become a gateway to the Village’s civic area and collection of municipal complexes. The CGA design team approached the project as a timeless design that would relate to its surrounding functions of government, recreation and open space and would communicate a continued, upscaled quality. The park’s main component included a flexible open lawn area that doubled as a ‘civic’ green space that could be used for its versatility. The lawn area, outside of its passive day-to-day activity, could become a dynamic space that would transform into an event space to hold concerts, food trucks, community fitness activities, and markets. All of these components were incorporated to support programming in the Community Center and serve as an economic driver to the area. Other park components include an artwork plaza, a custom pergola design that enhances the branding of the area, sculptural boulder elements, passive congregation areas, and a pump track. The project also included lush landscape improvements, site drainage, and site lighting.

Windmill Park

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Design improvements to Windmill Park in Coconut Creek consisted of expanding the existing park with the purchase of an adjacent single-family lot and orchard to the east of the site.

The CGA project work included the preservation of many large trees, the addition of two new parking lots, expansion of sidewalk/exercise path improvements, reconstruction of tennis courts, a drainage system, and enhanced planting and irrigation, all of which officially opened for public use in July 2018.

CGA’s multidisciplinary team was responsible for improving the current area with new lighting, repositioning tennis courts, expanding the two dog parks, adding ADA-approved play apparatus, stationed outdoor exercise paths, picnic pavilions, and restrooms.

In addition, the CGA team was responsible for the design of 2 new parking lots for additional parking spaces, pavement marking and signage, water and sewer, sidewalk improvements, re-grading of the entire site, and drainage system consisting of structures, pipes, and retention area.

Patch Reef Park

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CGA was selected by the Greater Boca Raton Beach and Parks District to provide design, permitting, bidding and construction management services for the conversion of three existing natural grass fields to synthetic turf fields at Patch Reef Park. The project included the design for the installation of synthetic turf fields, the drainage system under the new fields, relocation of existing utilities, sidewalk improvements, relocation of existing landscaping, and modifications to the irrigation system. The new synthetic turf fields feature a totally organic mix of in-fill material, which means there is no black crumb rubber on the fields. The new fields also feature a new automatic, underground irrigation system that will greatly assist the park staff in keeping the field moist, which is a requirement for the organic in-fill material. This irrigation system can also be utilized to keep the fields cool in the summer months. The fields were designed to serve multiple sports, including football, lacrosse and soccer. In order to construct the new fields, several existing Sabal Palms had to be relocated, major modifications were made to the existing irrigation system in the park, and new landscaping was added. CGA also provided complete construction administration and inspection services throughout the construction of the project.

Peace Mound Park

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The impetus for the project lied in addressing existing ADA accessibility issues and bringing the park up to the same high standards of other parks in the city. Another major concern during the design of the project was the preservation of the existing tree canopy and the shaded, passive feeling of the park.

Due to the significant amount of re-grading that was necessary in order to make the park ADA accessible, 85 of the nearly 500 existing trees had to be removed, and another 120 trees were relocated on site. To offset this loss, however, 150 new trees have been planted, including 18 specimen Live Oak trees.

All of the walkways throughout the park are now accessible by wheelchair, and in many cases, this is made possible through the use of decorative stone retaining walls, which allowed for the preservation of the many existing mature trees within the park.

The existing tot lot and swings have been replaced with a new play area that includes play equipment for children of all ages and physical abilities. The main play structure is completely accessible by children in wheelchairs, with a ramp leading up to the main platforms.

Another major feature of the park is that it contains a significant archeological site with artifacts from the Tequesta Indians. Throughout the course of the project, care was taken not to disturb this area, and 8 new bronze plaques with information on the history of the area have been inlaid in the walkways that surround it.

Mills Pond Park

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CGA was selected by the City of Fort Lauderdale to provide planning, design, and construction services for the addition of three new soccer and lacrosse fields at Mills Pond Park. The existing park had three lighted soccer fields, one un-lighted soccer field, and five lighted softball fields. The improvements to the park included three new fields and all associated sports lighting, drainage, and irrigation, as well as a future restroom/concession building, new parking, walkways, and landscaping. Working with the City and stakeholders, CGA prepared six (6) configuration options for bidding purposes per the City’s desire to see what layout would fit within their construction budget. The City ended up choosing the option with three (3) artificial turf fields and a future restroom. In addition, the City of Fort Lauderdale wanted to continue their emphasis on sustainability by incorporating green design principles such as LED sports lighting, innovative drainage solutions, permeable pavers, and Florida-friendly landscaping.

Library Park

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The City of Weston approached CGA with the idea to design and develop a passive park on six acres of land located adjacent to the new Weston Branch of the Broward County Library. The City received a small grant from the State of Florida, Division of Recreation and Parks to assist with the development of the park. CGA oversaw all aspects of the development of the park from the conceptual design and site details to the permitting, bidding and construction. CGA designed a strong connection between the park and the Library. A paved walkway leads visitors from the Library directly to a large circular fountain and the “Ring of Florida Authors.” The low walk and seating area contain 20 bronze plaques highlighting the literary works of famous authors and playwrights with a connection to Florida. In addition, there is a series of gazebos with terraced seating to accommodate groups of up to 40 people in size. The design of the park also features a “walk of discovery,” consisting of a series of 10 bronze plaques inlaid in the park’s meandering sidewalk that depicts the history of the area dating back to the Tequesta Indians.

North Bay Road Pedestrian Bridge

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CGA was retained by the City of Sunny Isles Beach to survey, design, permit, and administer the construction of the North Bay Road Bridge, spanning a canal between 174th St. and 172nd St. along North Bay Road. The principal function of the bridge is to provide pedestrian access across the canal, as well as it is designed to provide access to emergency vehicles as a bypass to Collins Ave. during periods of heavy traffic congestion.

The CGA team approached the project first as a ‘place’ and a pedestrian amenity, and second as an emergency access last. The design was centered on creating a park-like setting with planting and seating that would appeal to pedestrian use and would promote lingering. A strong branding strategy was embedded within the hardscape design that reinforced the concept of using infrastructure as a recreational asset and in turn has established it as a landmark within the City. The project included several work efforts adjacent to the bridge, including the construction of an observation deck in Town Center Park, located at the eastern end of the canal, and a boardwalk connecting the deck to the North Bay Road bridge. Associated drainage, roadway, utility, and hardscape improvements were made along 174th St. and 172nd St. to account for the increased drainage and other impacts to the surrounding infrastructure.

The project involved intensive coordination with regulatory agencies, utilities, government entities, and local stakeholders. The CGA team was able to procure all necessary permits to conduct the work on schedule.

Oakland Park Station

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CGA was contracted by the City of Oakland Park to design a public plaza at a prominent location within the City’s Culinary District. The public plaza is the linchpin to the newly established District’s catalyst for redevelopment, serving as a connective means and threshold to a brewery being proposed in a presently vacant industrial building. The goal of the plaza’s design was to meet the goals of the District’s master plan in contributing spaces of value for social, public use to increase the pedestrian experiences being lent by the District. Additionally, the plaza provides ample areas and infrastructure to serve as the designated location for future street markets – this includes ample electrical connection stations, a flexible elevated area that can be used as a stage area, and ample outdoor seating opportunities through the use of elevated planters with seat walls.

The design of the plaza required very close attention to detail design to ensure that the quality of the space was of a high architectural quality, consistent with the initial branding strategies already embarked by the City. Lastly, the project was conceived, design and developed through a cooperative process with the assigned City officials, the developers and adjacent property owner, lease and their contractor, and finally with the City-selected contractor contracted to build the plaza project. This coordination was a highlight of the project which ensured that the design ideas were clearly communicated and translated into the implementation phase, that all in-building needs were met and scheduled so as to not conflict with the plaza’s tight construction schedule, and that the continuity and balance of design elements was achieved between the public space and the improvements proposed by the adjacent building in terms of design treatments, color, signage and motifs.

North Beach Oceanside Park

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Miami Beach issued a simple request: to re-design a park. Specifically, the Request for Qualifications stated that the work products for the North Beach Oceanside Park would include conceptual drawing(s), surveying, geotechnical, design development, estimate(s) of probable construction cost, construction documents, permitting, bidding/award, and construction administration services. Embedded within the expectations of the City was a critical design component – the final design must define a new identity for the North Beach community by tapping into and revealing established values and qualities present in the site.

The resultant design took the densely-vegetated, 30-acre park and conceived it as a series of carefully orchestrated thresholds where park users will never feel secluded, inactive or unengaged. The design resulted in a necklace of ‘pods’ that operate as a spine to the project and serve to protect habitat and increase the City’s management of these natural resources. The walkways are scaled so that they foster continuous activities in potentially endless configurable ways and augments the opportunities for resiliency design by strengthening the dune, utilizing passive green infrastructure and LID stormwater management strategies. The project also incorporated a rebranding of the City’s established beachfront with an on-grade beachwalk destined to be a terminus to the City’s overall transportation infrastructure. The product developed for the park is one that will provide an immediate transformative quality for the North Beach Community, it will enhance cultural celebration, and it embodies the City’s values of good, environmental design and access to great public spaces.

Guy Davis Community Park Conceptual Design (Unbuilt)

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The CGA design team’s approach to the City’s call for qualifications was to propose a design solution that not only provided for the requirements listed within the RFP’s solicitation, but also pushed beyond the notions of the project simply as a sports complex, and instead approached the project with the intent of providing a holistic strategy that speaks to the potential of the project area and the need for the improvements to remain relevant to the community even when the sports fields are not in immediate use. Therefore, the approach consisted of four main themes:

  • Increasing interaction by developing a connected system of spaces that contribute to the heart of the community by creating a system of indispensable, inter-connected gathering spaces;
  • Providing a multiscale, sustainable solution to community design and site development that seeks to minimize and manage stormwater through Low Impact Development and use it as an opportunity to educate and demonstrate the importance of water conservation and natural processes;
  • Maximizing connectivity through trail systems that provide a circuited-loop with a design detailing that will seek to hone key skills such as physical, social, and cognitive functions; and
  • Taking steps to preserve the existing plant communities and site drainage to shape the character and identity of the park to its community.
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