Township Commons at Brooklyn Basin

Township Commons is the first of five parks to be completed at Brooklyn Basin in Oakland, California. The park is situated along the Oakland Estuary at the southern edge of Brooklyn Basin. Urban design critic John King of the San Francisco Chronicle described Township Commons as “a startling act of urban reinvention that, with time, should pull people from across the city to an area that until now has been off the map". The park welcomes Oakland residents back to their waterfront with a bold and brave definition of a park. An adaptive re-use conceived with a radical imagination, the park is inspired by the shipping history as well as the natural history of the site. Select building elements including walls, trusses, and the imprint of loading dock geometry are preserved in the design, but are also transformed to inspire and allow for new uses—including the creation of containers of coastal, drought-tolerant plants. The project was immediately embraced by locals for recreational movement and water’s edge gathering. Its success as a first phase of development in this area has created a strong public identity for the Brooklyn Basin neighborhood.

Location: Oakland, CA
Client: Signature Development Group / ZOHP
Project Size: 8 acres
Status: Completed - November 2020
Role: Prime, Landscape Architect
Collaboration: SGH Structural and Shoreline Engineers, BKF Engineers, MWA Architects, WRA Inc., Volume Inc., Arthur Landscape Irrigation Consulting

Awards + Recognition:

AIA California - Honor Award - Urban Design, 2023

Architizer A+Awards - Jury Winner - Architecture + Urban Transformation, 2021

World Landscape Architecture - Shortlisted - Built Large Category, 2021

ASLA-NCC - Honor Award - Urban Design Category, 2021

Dezeen - Longlisted - Rebirth Category, 2021