MVVA wins Gateway Arch Competition

MVVA TEAM Site Plan

MVVA TEAM Site Plan

The multi-disciplinary team lead by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates have been selected over the other 4 teams to proceed to the planning stage of the competition. The jury chose the MVVA Team over four others competing to enliven the area around the Gateway Arch and connect it to downtown St. Louis, the Mississippi River and the Illinois bank. Based in New York, MVVA’s portfolio includes the redesign of Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House, the design of Brooklyn Bridge Park and many other prominent projects.

The MVVA Team’s design concept narrative describes their vision for the redesigned park as a “centerpiece of civic culture, an engine of regional economic growth, a showcase for sustainable ecological restoration and a celebration of the national significance of this historic place.”

MVVA TEAM - Historic Landscape Pond

MVVA TEAM – Historic Landscape Pond

The sponsoring group, the MVVA Team and others will host intensive reviews and workshops this fall to analyze the design concept and conduct a more detailed design exploration. At a minimum, the study will focus on the review of the technical advisory group, the impact on related downtown park properties and the Illinois side of the river, traffic and transportation and federal compliance issues.

For the next stage the MVVA tean will work over a 90-day period, in partnership with the sponsors, the City of St. Louis, the National Park Service and others to further define program requirements; begin developing a design that takes into account the feasibility and practicality of proposed solutions; create a construction budget and fundraising plan; and define the delivery expectations from now until 2015.  The sponsors also will study issues relating to cost and construction, traffic, financial resources and federal compliance.

The project will be constructed by Oct. 28, 2015, the 50th anniversary of the completion of the Arch.

For those of you in St.Louis the leaders of the MVVA team will be introduced, along with details on the next stages of the process, at 10:00 a.m., Friday, Sept. 24, 2010, at the Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis.

SOURCE: The City+The Arch+The River 2015 International Design Competition

For Full MVVA team list

TEAM MEMBERS/FIRMS

  • Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
  • Steven Holl Architects
  • Greenberg Consultants
  • Uhlir Consulting
  • HR&A Advisors
  • Guy Nordenson and Associates
  • Arup
  • LimnoTech
  • Pine and Swallow Environmental
  • Applied Ecological Services
  • Ann Hamilton Studio
  • James Carpenter Design Associates
  • Cooper Robertson & Partners
  • Elizabeth K. Meyer
  • Project Projects
  • Vector Communications
  • ABNA Engineering

About Damian Holmes 3245 Articles
Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/