Project Service: Landscape Architecture / Urbanism

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.

Urban Forestry Master Plan

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In partnership with Davey Resource Group and Calvin, Giordano and Associates, Inc. (CGA) has developed an Urban Forestry Master Plan focused on managing the City’s trees into the future. The plan establishes a clear set of priorities and objectives that aid in the management, maintenance, and future planting of trees throughout the City by providing a sustainable and strategic framework.

CGA’s primary contribution to the master plan was the development of an implementable ‘Tool Kit’ that advances the recommendations in the master plan to generate standards that guide the roll-out of these. It includes specific case studies of unique conditions in the City that address the intersection of urban forestry considerations with issues such as historic preservation, sea-level rise, and community/neighborhood identities with a focus on satisfying the City’s goal to have strategies in place to increase resiliency and climate adaptation.

Additionally, the kit establishes acceptable plant palettes and the species’ most desirable use situations, as well as constructability standards for balancing adequate root-growth zones with green infrastructure and urban streetscape build-out conditions.

Finally, the ‘Tool Kit’ establishes a street-tree prioritization plan to guide future streetscape projects, examines and establishes a metric of measurement to define “success” in future-planned City projects across several different departments, and it establishes parameters to facilitate the cost estimating and planning for these during the budget cycles and scope processes of each project.

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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.

98th Street Park

CGA designed, permitted and oversaw the construction for a passive, walk-to neighborhood park on the East Island of Bay Harbor Islands. The park’s components include a restroom facility, an interactive splash pad with water jets and sculptural features, two separate play equipment (one for toddlers and one for children 5-12) – each shaded and installed on poured-in-place rubberized surfacing – and a shelter pavilion. The project also included landscape improvements, site drainage and site lighting. The construction for the park was completed on-time and within budget. Today, the park is one of a few park spaces that is accessible by walking within the island community; as such, the park serves many uses, including the Island’s PAL program activities, movies in the park, and as a general gathering are for pick-up sports.

SW 2nd Avenue Streetscape Project

Our approach to this project is one that is inherently about urban design and space-creation. It is not simply a matter of beautification, but rather as the process of embedding the environment with value to take advantage of inherent, flexible opportunities. We believe that these, in turn, will animate socialization, celebrate the culture of place, and provide for a multi-functional framework. We seek to capture the human experience, including mood, atmosphere, color, sound, tactility, pleasure and light that characterizes the ethos of ‘place’ that lives at this intersection of:

  • Culture – with the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Museum of Discovery and Science, and the Esplanade Park,
  • Socialization – with the vibrant Himmarshee Street nightlife scene,
  • History – with the campus of historical buildings, including the Museum of History, Hoch Heritage Center, Philemon Bryan House, King-Cromartie House, and the Schoolhouse), and
  • Access and Connectivity – with the continuity of the Riverwalk as a major destination linking the various waterfront properties.

Our goal for this project is to provide a design solution that results in products that are resilient, innovative, creative, sensitive, inspiring, memorable, responsible, interpretive, comprehensive, imaginative and visionary. We will lead by design and lead with design.

PlanItPompano!

The rapidly growing City of Pompano Beach in updating its comprehensive plan. The update, which includes creative public engagement activities, is focused on climate vulnerability and resiliency planning, redevelopment opportunities, mobility improvements, and expanding housing choice.

CGA has done extensive public outreach and engagement as part of this process, including conducting stakeholder interviews and focus groups; publishing an article in the Citywide magazine; using mass emails and social media platforms; extensively distributing flyers and displaying project posters; advertising through City channels; and holding an initial open house.

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