President’s Park South takes up a substantial 52 acres between the White House Grounds and Constitution Avenue NW. Considering the importance of the site’s location and history, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) hosted a design competition, and invited five design firms to submit design concepts for the area which will assist the National Park Service and the Secret Service in forming a plan for the site, as these two government bodies will ultimately be in control of the park’s redevelopment.
Today through June 27th, the designs will be on display at the White House Visitor Center at 1450 Pennsylvania Ave NW, open from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm, and available online.Design reps will present their ideas on Tuesday, June 28th, at 12:30pm at NCPC, 401 9th Street, NW (Suite 500N). The lunchtime event is open to the public, and feedback is welcomed. The design winner will be selected by the NCPC’s Interagency Security Task Force and will be announced on June 30th.
Image from Rogers Marvel Architects Presentation
The designs center on the key element of President’s Park South, the Ellipse, a defining aspect of Andrew Jackson Downing’s 1851 design for the area, “Public Grounds at Washington.” The Ellipse is surrounded by side panels, which contain other significant aspects of the site, including Sherman Park and the First Division Monument.
Roadways also cut through the area, most notably E St NW, laid out in 1967 to ease traffic downtown, now impassable to unauthorized vehicles, since 9/11.
Participating firms:
- Hood Design Studio, Oakland, CA, design features natural Ha-Ha barriers
- Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Brooklyn, NY, design features avenue of Elm
- Reed Hilderbrand Associates, Watertown, MA, design features diverse tree canopy
- Rogers Marvel Architects, New York, NY, design features raised Ellipse
- SASAKI, Watertown, MA SASAKI, Watertown, MA, design features plaza
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8 comments:
For the love of God, reopen E Street and make the area less of a presidential compound.
If you open E Street, the terrorists have won. By which I mean people in SUVs.
They need to remove the parking lot in the middle of the park.
Make the current "parking lot" an underground parking lot, so that walking tourists can enjoy the experience, and the cars are not in sight, and totally controlled by the secret service. Open "E" street, even if it means swinging it further into the ellipse, for "security". I love the idea of places to sit (like the "raised ellipse") under beautiful elms. Great idea.
This landscape needs much greater definition. For that reason, I am leaning toward the "raised Ellipse" plan, which would seem to help address that. And yes, OF COURSE, E Street needs to be re-opened!!
Why not put E st underground with the parking and elevate a lovely park? We have got to do something to alleviate the traffic.
The Reed Hilderbrand proposal is the strongest. They do such great work.
PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS TO BENJAMIN BANNEKER PARK
Banneker Park would undergo major renovations, which include construction of an
intermodal transportation center and parking facility (ITC) within the park property. The ITC
would be designed to accommodate up to 1,150 automobiles and 75 tour buses. The facility
would be recessed into the hillside, designed to blend into the topography of the park. The
highest elevation of the park, which is the same height as L’Enfant Promenade, would remain
unchanged. Due to the modification of the sloping park hill required to construct the ITC, the
existing circular park would be eliminated and the traffic circle would be modified into a
smaller traffic circle at a location closer to I-395..
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