Clinton Green adds a new vital public space to an open-space deprived city district and is certain to emerge as a favorite neighborhood meeting place. This LEED-certified residential mixed-use complex creates a unique mid-block open space access. Constructed over an Amtrak rail corridor – a designated brownfield site – and subterranean parking structures, this two block linear public space organizes theaters, a community center, health club, and cafes within a series of richly planted circulation and social spaces.

The park design utilizes “borrowed landscape” techniques from an adjacent community garden while employing spatial separations. A garden brick wall affords privacy and security and serves as a historic “trace element.” Ventilation shafts are positioned and integrated within the park’s spatial structure and rendered nearly invisible. A “false ground” effect emerges where large breathable permeable areas, either for planting or crushed stone fine pavement, reduce storm water run-off and urban heat-island effects. Tumbled unit pavement used as a continuous “urban rug” references the neighborhood’s historical past and visually calms the park’s diverse edges. Broad granite seat walls separate seating and play areas from primary circulations routes. This design creates a community commons that is removed from the city’s hustle and bustle without losing its connections to neighborhood’s activities.