St. James Street garden
Boston–The Copley Wolff Design Group (CWDG) has been named a BSLA merit award winner for Parks and Recreation Facilities design for its work on the St. James Street Garden Project for Liberty Mutual Group in Boston.
Located in Boston’s historic Back Bay, the St. James Street Garden provides valuable green space in a dense commercial district and is enjoyed throughout the year. The new public garden replaced an old executive parking lot. John Copley, ASLA, Principal, and the CWDG team worked closely with the client and the City of Boston to develop an open and inviting plan that includes smaller intimate spaces for conversation and relaxation.
Night view
The focal point for the space is a dramatic vertical water wall masking a garage entrance. CWDG’s design for the water wall features six separate vertical panels of line chiseled granite from Italy and staggered in plan and height to create visual interest. The design also includes six separate water sources for each panel that are individually controlled and pumped. This allows for a multitude of water volumes, staging possibilities, and presentation options. When coupled with full-color LED lighting in the bottom trough, the water wall has become a focal point for couples, kids, and the business community.
Another innovative component included in the design are the living green walls which provide a buffer between the office tower and the park. The living green walls, designed with vertical elements that tie in with the paving patterns in the park and the vertical columns of the building, create human scale for the space and are oriented to allow for views from the offices above. The unique, multi-dimensional living walls remain green year-round, providing seasonal interest for the public space.
