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American Public Works Association Mid-Atlantic Chapter, Project of the Year Award for Transportation, $5 million to $25 million

HOUSTON (AP) — The go-to place for many of the Super Bowl related festivities in Houston this week hasn’t been a swanky nightclub or a hard to get into restaurant but a popular 12-acre park that has helped revitalize the downtown area as well as become the heart of the city for many local residents. Read more

The city, which was hit hard by slumping oil prices, has overhauled its night life, infrastructure and parks in hopes of becoming a world-class destination. Read more

The T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge had a big first month, according to officials at the James River Park System, who counted 35,000 visitors to the new attraction in December.

“It’s a huge boon for the park and the city in general,” said the park system’s superintendent, Nathan Burrell. “It’s a lot of people you don’t typically don’t see in the James River Park System are down exploring, so it’s great to see this new mix of people coming in and enjoying it.” Read more

“If the kaleidoscope of Houston comes together at any one place, if we have a commons, it is the splash pad at Discovery Green… the diversity of park visitors is remarkable.”

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The 1,700-long shared use pathway rests on the blackened steel structure of a 1901 Vepco levee, a hydro power dam that once harnessed power for riverfront industry along the James River. Hargreaves Associates authored the 2012 Riverfront Plan, identifying the dam as the first project for implementation: An adaptive reuse, providing a non-motorized, universally accessible route across the James River rapids, connecting south bank Manchester & the James River Park System with north bank downtown Richmond.

The Hargreaves-designed project retrofits the weathered steel structure, widening it for cycling and pedestrian use, bringing more people out over the rushing river, while kayakers and rafters drift into Class IV rapids. On the south bank, the path hugs the 35’ tall Civil War-era Richmond and Petersburg railroad embankment. The tree-lined path curves around both sides of the steep embankment, ascending the downriver slope, culminating with a promontory view of the city skyline, and a bridge connection to Manchester.

Mayor Dwight Jones opened the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge in Richmond, Virginia on 2 December 2016.

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Recipient of three awards: a 2016 American Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, a 2016 Justice Facilities Review Design Award from the AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice (AAJ) and a 2016 AIA South Atlantic Region (SAR) Design Award. Hargreaves Associates was consulted as the landscape architect. Award Link

Today Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Public Design Commission (PDC) announced this year’s winners of the commission’s annual Awards for Excellence in Design.

“These thoughtful and innovative designs support the de Blasio administration’s commitment to providing quality, equitable, and resilient public spaces to all New Yorkers. By utilizing good design principles, these projects will provide the public with increased access to the waterfront, open spaces and parks; improved places for play and community gatherings; and inspiring artworks,” said PDC president Signe Nielsen, co-founding principal of Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, in a statement. Read more

Mary Margaret Jones is honored to be a panelist for the session “Learning from Landscape Architects” Event Information

Mary Lydecker, Panelist Event Information