Carlyle Plaza

Designing a masterplan to turn a former landfill site into a residential and commercial development had obvious design challenges—but the city required that the adjacent wastewater facility would have to be expanded to meet LEED Silver Certification. Working closely with local agencies, we designed an elevated, multipurpose greenspace to conceal the improved water purification system below. Gleaming office towers offer a civic face, while side street housing creates community space. In order to better integrate the new development into the city, transitions were carefully considered: an extension of the local bike path offers a slowly sloping entrance to the surrounding neighborhood, while wide, Spanish steps offer a faster route and double as a storm water retention funnel to nearby Eisenhower Circle.