The results are in: Dallas has selected Stoss + SHoP’s “Hyper Density Hyper Landscape” (HDHL) over finalists Ricardo Bofill and OMA+AMO to reunite its downtown with the neighboring Trinity River. The winning team’s pragmatic approach aims to activates the region’s “full potential” by introducing an alternating “grid-green” development that will transform 176 acres into three new “dynamic, mixed-used” neighborhoods.
“The idea is very clear and compelling,” stated the jury. “There’s much left to be resolved in details but the diagram of the green coming into the city and the city going into the Trinity is a very powerful diagram that should become a strategy for managing change as the community moves forward.”
Designed as extensions of established neighborhoods, these three new districts will be activated by the revival of the Old River and introduction of a new programs, such as new cultural institutions, a robust transportation network, and high-tech incubator campus. Large “forested fingers” will extend the river’s natural systems into city to provide shade and urban greenscapes, while lonely flood basins are reactivated into a “beautiful chain of parks and water gardens” that re-connect residents to the Trinity.
Simultaneously, these areas will offer opportunities for vibrant public spaces, from floating cafes to amphitheaters and sporting areas, while providing flood prevention and storm-water management.
New Neighborhoods
To the north will be the DeCCo (Design Crosses Commerce), “a vibrant mixed use neighborhood that connects downtown with the emerging design district. In additional to abundant residential units, it also includes commercial and light-industrial spaces that draw from the city’s emerging tech and arts sectors and a signature urban beach, nestled in the neighborhood and overlooking the River.”
The Viaduct, “an intense urban corridor along the Houston and Jefferson viaducts,” will extend the “central business district towards the river, culminating in an outdoor venue, the Pump House Amphitheater. Towards the city, The Viaduct links the existing Union Station with a new high-speed rail station, a signature office tower, a commercial / retail center, a central plaza, a new tech campus, Reunion Tower, and the convention center.”
Lastly will be “the Riverfront South bridges across the rail corridor to connect the South Side neighborhood to the Trinity and creates a southern anchor for Riverfront Boulevard. Characterized by attractive housing, water and music gardens, and two signature institutions, Riverfront South will become a very livable and attractive place for Dallas residents.”
You can learn more by reading the team’s full proposal, here.
