Irvine Great Park in California — LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AOTEAROA

SWA Group and Kellenberg Studio have unveiled their masterplan for Irvine Great Park in California, a park they hope will become one of the United States’ signature municipal parks, similar to Central Park in New York.

At 485 hectares, the Great Park is one of the largest urban parks in the world. The open space was once the Marine Corps’ El Toro Air Station, and SWA envisions a park that is, “both a destination for recreation and a hub for education, research, and cultural enrichment.”

The local community’s wish of “putting the park back into the park” has been incorporated into the design framework by SWA and Kellenberg Studio, which provides overall planning principles and design direction.

Irvine Great Park, “will provide equity in access and activity and will create a destination that can evolve over the decades — if not centuries — into what the residents of Irvine and Orange County desire in meeting their recreational, sports, and community gathering needs.”

SWA Group and Kellenberg Studio hope Irvine Great Park will become one of the United States’ signature municipal parks.

The park is divided into five distinct zones. The Heart of the Park will house a three-tiered, 22-acre man-made lake system and its associated wetland terraces, representing best practices in stormwater treatment. It will also feature a regionally significant outdoor amphitheatre with 10,000-12,000 seats, and California native meadows.

A Cultural Terrace includes an aviation museum with more than 40 aircraft and interactive elements, and the Bosque is a sculpted linear park of naturalised landscape trails, native California chaparral and playgrounds.

The park’s design includes stormwater management, mobility systems, urban forestation and minimal energy use.

The Botanical Garden spans 60-aces, and along with the Veteran’s Memorial Park, includes a terrace, research library and living laboratory of Southern California species.

An 80 hectare Sports Park also features, offering the community ample recreational space.

Each zone will have a unique character, and a multimodal grand promenade will connect amenities such as tram stops and bike cabins. A MetroLink stop on the park’s southwest side provides regional connections to the area. This new multimodal transit infrastructure will encourage alternatives to the use of cars.

The park’s design includes stormwater management, mobility systems, urban forestation and minimal energy use. Plantings will add green to the city and mitigate the urban heat island effect.

“Creating a Great Park is an act of hope; planting trees and planning this endeavor is an investment in our future,” says Sean O’Malley, Managing Principal, SWA Group, Laguna Beach.

“Inspired by our collective heritage of celebrating the American landscape through our national parks, and the promise that nature holds, the Irvine Great Park will live, evolve, and serve for generations to come.”