Santa Monica, CA
Tongva Park &
Ken Genser Square
James Corner Field Operations | Buro Happold | City of Santa Monica
Named for the original LA basin inhabitants, Tongva Park is a bold, imaginative public park project driven by extensive stakeholder outreach and a strong bias for sustainable design. The Design-Build team transformed a vacant lot next to City Hall and the pier into “the heart of the City.”
Unique design elements included a “terraforming” approach designed to mimic the native arroyo environment with natural spaces sheltered from the park’s urban setting, as well as a building artfully bermed through a hillside. Other engineering challenges included dedication and extension of Olympic Avenue; abandonment, relocation and preservation of on-site power/sewer/domestic water; plus deployment of recycled water from a nearby urban runoff treatment plant. 360° communication and integration of community input was paramount and Fuscoe was instrumental in facilitating this feedback.