South Boston Maritime Park
Collaborative Design
The South Boston Waterfront Park is part of a larger initiative by the Massachusetts Port Authority to redevelop the waterfront along Northern Avenue in South Boston. The design resulted from a collaboration with a prominent local landscape architecture firm, where landscape and architectural elements work in concert to create a seamless and fully integrated overall design.
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Client: Massachusetts Port Authority
Location: Boston, MA
Year: 1999-2004
Status: Built
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Honor Award for Design Parks and Recreation Facilities | Boston Society of Landscape Architects | 2004
Site Form
The wedge-shaped site of the park creates a break in the otherwise continuous building edge of Northern Avenue facing Boston Harbor. The park is conceived as a single design with three distinct zones unified through a consistent material palette and design methodology.
Park Zones
The largest zone at the northern end of the park provides a raised lawn panel with a continuous staircase lining Northern Avenue. Two large pergolas at the lawn’s inner edge mark the transition to the central zone, creating a backdrop for events seen from Northern Avenue.
The middle zone contains a low café structure and outdoor seating areas, while the southern end of the park is conceived as a more intimate area of benches and densely planted shade trees. The process included selection of an artist and the incorporation of a public art installation into the design of the park.