OMA / Jason Long’s 11th Street Bridge Park was granted approval by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) at the beginning of April. Designed by OMA, with landscape architects OLIN, and structural engineers WRA, the project is the winning entry of the design competition held back in 2014.
The Bridge Park project designed by OMA / Jason Long with landscape architects OLIN under the leadership of partner Hallie Boyce has first received positive feedback from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and then was granted approval by the National Capital Planning Commission. Working with the District Department of Transportation, non-profit Building Bridges Across the River as well as multiple agencies and stakeholders to develop and improve the bridge design, OMA and OLIN have been collaborating on this venture ever since their joint competition win in 2014.
This project would not have been possible without the efforts of key stakeholders and the community. Their comments and feedback truly shaped the bridge, from its overall design to its specific programs and features. It’s only fitting that a project of this size and importance has required such broad cooperation and collaboration. -- Yusef Ali Dennis, OMA Associate.
Encouraging physical activity while building social capital, the project puts in place a bridge structure elaborated with structural engineers WRA and Delon Hampton. Moreover, major programmatic spaces like the Exelon Environmental Education Center were designed in collaboration with stakeholders such as the Anacostia Watershed Society.
Providing an innovative approach to recreation, public health, and equitable development at varying scales, 11th Street Bridge Park is scheduled for construction in 2021. In fact, creating “a communal gathering place to unite a long-divided city”, the project will be Washington D.C.’s first park above the river. In their report, NCPC stated that the new elevated green space crossing the Anacostia River “will increase community connectivity and create welcoming and vibrant spaces that enhance the user experience and foster civic and local uses."
At a time when we are paradoxically isolated from one another but united in a common cause, public spaces that we all share and that benefit health have become more important than ever. Our work has focused on creating a new civic space that engages with the Anacostia River and refining the program for the park to ensure it will be a place for everyone in DC. -- Jason Long, OMA Partner.
Jason Long, a Partner at OMA is currently leading three projects focusing on urbanism and the public realm in Washington D.C., the 11th Street Bridge Park; a sports and recreation master plan for the RFK Stadium Armoy Campus; and streetscape design for D.C.’s convention center.
- Partner: Jason Long
- Associate: Yusef Ali Dennis
- Team: Titouan Chapouly, Alireza Shojakhani, Yiyao Wang, Gonzalo Samaniego
- Landscape Architect: OLIN
- Structural & Civil Engineer: WRA, Delon Hampton
- MEPFP: Setty
- Community Outreach Advisor: ARCH Development
- Acoustics Consultant: Threshold Acoustics
- Lighting Designer: MCLA
