George Hargreaves is a renowned landscape architect and founder of Hargreaves Associates. The firm is known for transforming urban sites through expressive and responsive design. They approach each project as an opportunity to highlight the unique qualities of a place and connect culture and environment. Hargreaves Associates has designed many notable projects including parks, public spaces, urban designs, campuses and waterfronts. Their South Pointe Park project in Miami Beach transformed 19 acres into an ecologically sensitive space for both active and passive recreation while integrating the park into the surrounding urban fabric.
3. 01 Introduction
George Hargreaves (born November 12, 1952) is a
landscape architect.
Under his design direction, the work of his firm has received
numerous national awards and has been published and
exhibited nationally and internationally.
He was an artist in residence at the American Academy of
Rome in 2009.
Hargreaves and his firm designed numerous sites including
the master plan for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, The
Brightwater Waste Water Treatment Facility in Seattle,
Washington, and University of Cincinnati Master Plan.
3
4. 01 Introduction
• Hargreaves Jones has been at the forefront of landscape architecture
and planning since 1983 and is globally renowned for the
transformation of urban sites.
• The firm’s exceptional work has been widely exhibited, published, and
recognized by over 100 national and international awards, including the
Cooper Hewitt National Design Award and the Rosa Barba International
Landscape Prize.
• There offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Cambridge work
collectively, united by a belief in the power of expressive and responsive
design to create enduring landscapes for communities, institutions, and
individuals.
• Fueled by rigorous investigation, they’r work engages dynamic site
systems and cultural forces, with the intention of setting landscapes into
motion – always evolving and adaptable.
4
5. 02 Design philosophy
• They approach each project as an opportunity to reveal the
unique qualities of a place: whether amplifying the natural
phenomena of a site, expressing historic narratives,
transforming infrastructural impediments into public realm
opportunities, or encouraging individual interpretation and
discovery.
• Above all, we seek to foreground landscape, as the essential
foundation for civic and environmental resilience.
• Their design philosophy centers on connection; the
connection between culture and the environment, and
between the land and its people. The Discovery Green
design in Houston, Texas exemplifies this philosophy.
6. 03 Nature of projects handled:
1. Parks and Public Spaces:
Hargreaves Associates has designed numerous parks and public spaces,
including the award-winning Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, the Louisville
Waterfront Park in Kentucky, and the Shanghai Houtan Park in China.
Olympic Sculpture Park
Seattle
The Louisville Waterfront Park
Kentucky
The Shanghai Houtan Park
China
6
7. 03 Nature of projects handled:
2. Urban Design:
The firm has worked on urban design projects such as , the development of a
new transit-oriented community in Dallas, and the master plan for the
redevelopment of the former Navy Yard in Washington, D.C
Baietan urban design masterplan
China
The development of a new transit-
oriented community in Dallas
The master plan for the redevelopment
of the former Navy Yard in Washington,
D.C 7
8. 03 Nature of projects handled:
3. Campus Planning:
Hargreaves Associates has designed campus master plans for a variety of academic
institutions, including University of Arizona , Stanford University, and the University of
Cincinnati.
University of Arizona – Alumni plaza Stanford University the University of Cincinnati
8
9. 03 Nature of projects handled:
4. Waterfronts:
The firm has a strong expertise in waterfront design, including the revitalization
of San Francisco's Embarcadero waterfront, the East River Science Park in New
York City, and the transformation of Sydney's Darling Harbour.
East River Science Park
New York
East Darling Harbour
Sydney
9
The revitalization of San Francisco's
Embarcadero waterfront
11. South Pointe Park
Location: Miami Beach, Florida, USA.
Area:19 Acres
Architect: Hargreaves Jones
Landscape Architect: Hargreaves Associates
Local Landscape Architect: Savino Miller Design Studio
• South Pointe Park is designed as a dramatic, ecologically
sensitive park at the south end of Miami Beach.
• The design is programmed to accommodate both active and
passive recreation, with play fields, dune and hammock
zones, a playground, and a 20 ft. wide baywalk.
• An important goal in the Master Plan process was to integrate
the park into the urban fabric of the city by strengthening and
improving the two major street axes which penetrate the park
space.
12. • The Park positions two corresponding circulation paths – the
Serpentine Walk and the Cut Walk – across its length to provide
critical regional connections and views out to Government Cut and the
Atlantic Ocean.
• The paths connect to both the Baywalk that traverses the Biscayne
Bay coast, and the Beach Walk which provides access along the
Atlantic Ocean.
• The 1800 foot long linear Cutwalk, a waterfront promenade along
Government Cut, acts as a datum, rising between 12-18” above the
grade of the park across its length.
• From the park, the path is perceived both as object and line, while the
experience on the path heightens the sense of spectatorship.
• This pathway encourages the theater of the promenade, and provides the ideal
viewing platform for the massive cruise ships entering and leaving Biscayne Bay.
• In counterpoint to the strong linear move of the Cutwalk, a serpentine landform
with leisurely twists and turns begins at the Atlantic Ocean Beach Walk, rises up
to allow dramatic views out to the Atlantic Ocean, and access to the top of the
pavilion structure and continues west until it meets the Bay Walk.
15. 9/11/2023 15
• The pathway also encourages the theatre of the promenade, and it
serves as an ideal for the massive cruise ships entering or leaving
the Biscayne Bay.
• The landform encourages spirited movement across it and gives
a heightened experience of an ever-changing visual field of
movement.
• The twisting of the landform is echoed as a motif throughout the
park in smaller garden areas.
• Sinuous bands of native dune plantings on the ocean side of the
serpentine landform are contrasted with abstracted dune landforms
and palm trees on the inside slope of the serpentine.
• A smaller garden area of coastal hammock plantings of native ground covers,
palms and deciduous trees echo the twisting path of the landform.
• A forest of palms with understory grasses and ferns creates a buffer to the
urban context along the northern edge of the park. The design integrates the
park into the urban fabric by extending two major streets – Washington
Avenue and Ocean Drive – into the park with generous hardscape entry
plazas.
Washington Avenue
Ocean Drive
16. 9/11/2023 16
• At the interior of the park a pavilion with café and facilities creates a point
of rest.
• An amphitheater creates an informal staging area and seating overlooking
the water.
• The park also features three areas of open lawn which support free and
flexible program. These areas of lawn are planted with salt tolerant
turfgrasses to withstand active use and are engineered to retain water
after tropical storm events.
• Mature trees from the site were stored during construction
and then replanted on the lawn, achieving an immediate
visual impact at the opening of the park.
• Another design challenge was to integrate the existing
restaurant within the park as it provides revenue for the
maintenance of the park.
• In order to bring vehicular access and parking close to the
restaurant, the design creates an urban entrance edge.
• Outdoor terraces flank the cutwall, emphasizing the
circulation of the park while accommodating the restaurant
programming within it.
17. 9/11/2023 17
• The selection of project materials was significantly influenced by the project context :
high-quality materials that reflect the city’s growing prominence as an international
destination.
• The park’s context at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and the pervasive humid, sub-
tropical climate of South Florida required the selection of durable materials that have
the capacity to withstand not only heavy, urban park use, but also the strong erosive
forces of the coastal environment, such as salt spray, hurricane force winds and tropical
storm deluges.
• Materials and finishes adapted to both contexts such as marine-grade stainless steel
with high-quality finishes to deter advanced weathering due to salt spray and the use of
wood was limited to sustainably harvested IPE, to withstand wide and rapid fluctuations
in moisture while providing a long lifespan in an environment where other woods would
be subject to advanced rot and decay.
• Paving materials were designed for long-term durability but to also reflect the regional
geomorphology.
• Dominican keystone (a stone of fossilized coral), shell aggregate concrete paving, and
coquina pathways draw visual and tactile connections to the larger geologic context
underpinning the site.
• Custom site lighting was designed to provide a signature night-time experience and
announce the point of passage to cruise ships and they signify the annual phenomena
of sea turtles retuning to the beach to nest. During the six month turtle nesting season,
pylon lights change to an amber long wavelength light which does not interfere with
hatchlings and their return to the ocean.
18. 9/11/2023 18
• The project is adjacent to sensitive coastal hydrology and includes an integrated system of rainwater collection
and harvesting.
• Nearly all the rainwater that falls on the 22-acre site is harvested and retained on site.
• To address the seasonal sub-tropical rainfalls of south Florida, site grading was utilized to direct surface flow
during small rain events into large areas of native plantings, which allow for infiltration and to minimize reliance
on traditional drainage structures.