OMA’s 11th Street Bridge Park project, which was the winning proposal in the design competition in 2014, has recently got approval by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC). OMA has been collaborating on this venture with landscape architects OLIN and structural engineers WRA ever since the start of the contest. They have been working together 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.
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.
The project will be Washington D.C.’s first park above the river and will create “a communal gathering place to unite a long-divided city”. According to NCPC, the new 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.”
The team has provided to the bridge park an innovative approach to recreation, public health, and equitable development at varying scales to ensure it will be a place for everyone in the Washington D.C.
The 11th Street Bridge Park is set to begin construction in 2021.
