General Design Category

North End Parks - SPECIAL MENTION AWARD
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol LTD
Crosby | Schlessinger | Smallridge LL

Project Description:
Boston's Central Artery Tunnel, also known as the Big Dig, is the largest freeway tunnelling project of its kind. The Interstate-93 freeway, previously a raised structure, was buried beneath the city. A part of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, North End Parks creates nearly three acres of new land and permeable surfaces over the tunnel, at the prime entry to one of downtown Boston's densest neighborhoods. Two years after its public opening, the success of North End Parks lies in the daily and constant use it receives. As intended, residents use the space as an extension of their neighborhood. Tourists following the historic Freedom Trail are able to enjoy a cannoli as they rest on the custom designed benches. School groups perch on the lawn and seating walls to enjoy a sack lunch. Local residents are now forming a Friends of North End Parks group to ensure the continued maintenance and upkeep of the parks – the best sign of a well-loved and well-used public space.

Jury Comments:
One of four public parks that make up the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway on the site of Boston's "Big Dig," the North End Parks constitute a front yard for a sector of downtown Boston. The landscape architects custom designed details throughout the park—the pergola, railings, all metalwork—to create a comfortable downtown park for Boston. Gardens bordering the park are raised up, buffering the south side of the park from a busy, noisy arterial that is open to commercial traffic. The jury recognized that it has become difficult to actually build projects in the public realm. They applaud the landscape architects' ability to work within the public process in Boston to create a comfortable urban public space.