Waterside Park is a new 89-acre regional park on the site of a former water company reservoir lands. The project, at the epicenter of Pennsylvania’s fracking industry, attempts to elevate consideration of ecological assets and civic infrastructure in the public imagination of one of the most conservative counties in the state. In doing so, it establishes a new civic center for gathering, nature-based recreation, and community life for North Franklin Township.

The project is anchored by the restoration of the Chartiers Creek corridor, one of Pennsylvania’s most polluted waterways. Streambank stabilization, floodplain expansion, and new surface water storage strategies work together to improve water quality, reduce downstream flooding, and restore ecological function. These systems are made legible through trails, overlooks, and educational elements that allow visitors to engage directly with the landscape.

The park is structured around two primary anchors connected by a one-mile greenway. The North Anchor, centered around the historic reservoirs, water filter building, and municipal facilities, serves as the civic heart of the township. This area integrates gathering spaces, recreation amenities, and waterfront access, creating a flexible hub for both everyday use and community events. The reservoirs themselves are reimagined as key public assets, supporting passive recreation such as walking, seating, and water-based activities while reinforcing the site’s identity.

At the southern end, the South Anchor operates as a “Community Classroom,” combining outdoor learning environments, adventure play, and gathering spaces within a restored woodland and creek setting. Here, ecological processes become central to the visitor experience. Features such as sedimentation ridges—strategic topographic interventions that allow floodwaters to spread across the landscape—demonstrate how design can mitigate flooding while supporting education and exploration.

Connecting these anchors is a fully accessible greenway that acts as the primary organizational spine of the park. Designed to adapt to varying site conditions, the greenway weaves through wetlands, forests, and open meadows, offering a range of experiences while linking neighborhoods, schools, and adjacent development. Secondary trail systems branch from this spine, creating loops and circuits that support both active recreation and quiet immersion in nature.

The project carefully balances preservation and transformation. Large portions of the site are conserved to protect existing ecological systems, while previously disturbed areas are enhanced into higher-functioning landscapes and as civic and recreational spaces. This approach ensures long-term environmental performance while creating a park that is both accessible and programmatically diverse.

Waterside Park demonstrates how strategic investment in ecological infrastructure can also serve as a catalyst for community identity and growth. By aligning restoration with recreation and education, the project establishes a new model for regional parks—one that supports environmental resilience while creating meaningful public space for a broad and evolving community.

Technical Information

Site Area: 89 acres

Water Quality Improvements: Chartiers Creek restoration, streambank stabilization, floodplain expansion, and new surface water storage

Ecological Restoration Areas: Riparian forest, floodplain wetlands, restored woodlands, native meadows, and reservoir landscapes

Sustainability: Native habitat restoration, resilient planting, flood mitigation, and long-term ecological management, adaptive re-use of historic building

Waterside Park

Location: Washington, Pennsylvania, USA

Landscape Architect: PORT

Clients: North Franklin Township Board of Supervisors + Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Ecological Consultant: HRG, Inc.

Images: PORT

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Globeville community members gathered to celebrate the new chapter for a park shaped by decades of industrial use and contamination. More than three decades after environmental cleanup began in 1994, Carpio-Sanguinette Park (former Northside Park) and Heron Pond Open Spaces create new opportunities for residents to experience nature close to home while strengthening connections between Globeville and the South Platte River.

What began as a project to treat stormwater runoff, turned into a completely new regional park for this neighborhood. Dig Studio, along with Wilson and Co Engineering, supported Denver Parks and Recreation and the community in the park’s vision and design. The design responds to the complexity of the site by bringing environmental cleanup, stormwater management, habitat and public recreation together, rather than treating them as separate systems.

The 80-acre park combines the Heron Pond Natural Area, the Carpio-Sanguinette Park) and adjoining City properties into a connected landscape designed around both ecological health and everyday neighborhood use. Once fragmented and largely inaccessible, the site now includes trails, overlooks, restored habitat, a regional playground, pavilion, and pump track, along with a 15-acre stormwater system that helps improve water quality by treating runoff from over 700 acres of surrounding land before it reaches the South Platte River.

Wetlands, river-edge landscapes and upland prairie provide habitat for birds, pollinators and other wildlife while supporting healthier soils and helping reduce urban heat. Trails and interpretive elements bring visitors closer to those systems and create opportunities to understand how water quality, habitat and recreation can work together within the same landscape.

Community priorities informed access, safety and programming, building on decades of neighborhood advocacy for environmental cleanup and reinvestment in Globeville and North Denver. Residents helped shape how the park welcomes and serves the neighborhood. Community input informed decisions about access, safety, activities and how the design reflects local identity.

Public art adds additional layers of local identity and storytelling:

• Nuestras Voces (Our Voices) by Denver artist Bimmer Torres, a sculptural series inspired by growth, community stories and the relationship between people and wildlife. The piece will be installed following the park’s opening.

• Los Arcos by Josh Palmieri of Two Palm Studio, a masonry sculpture inspired by the arched entryways found in homes throughout Globeville and Denver’s Latin American neighborhoods.

• Four painted steel sculptures by Victor Escobedo and Thomas Scharfenberg depicting native animals taking part in activities found throughout the park.

Existing graffiti walls near the stormwater landscape were retained at the community’s request, preserving a longtime space where artists have practiced their craft.

As the largest natural area within the Denver Parks system, Heron Pond demonstrates how land once defined by industry can take on a new role in neighborhood life, supporting habitat and water quality while giving residents more places to walk, play, gather and experience the South Platte River.

Total project funding was $44M for vision plan, design, and construction from DPR’s Park Legacy Fund, DOTI wastewater enterprise funds, and several grants, including GOCO, CDPHE, CO Health Foundation, CPW, and Adams County Open Space. 

Carpio-Sanguinette Park & Heron Pond Open Space

Client and Public Agency Partners: City and County of Denver — Denver Parks and Recreation; Department of Transportation and Infrastructure

Landscape Architecture and Master Planning: Dig Studio
Ecological Planning and Design: Biohabitats
Additional Collaborators: Wilson & Company; Hydrosystems/KDI; Pinyon Environmental; Globeville residents and community participants.

Images: Denver Parks and Recreation

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Benjakitti Forest Park is an urban park located on the former Tobacco Factory site in central Bangkok, owned by the Treasury Department, Ministry of Finance. Covering approximately 720,000 square meters, the site was transformed into a public green space after the factory was relocated, creating a new ecological and social landmark for the city.

Thailand’s monsoon climate presents significant challenges from both flooding and drought. The park functions as a large urban “sponge,” retaining rainwater during the wet season and releasing it during dry periods, with a total water storage capacity of 128,000 cubic meters. Water from the adjacent Phai Sing To Canal, previously contaminated by urban runoff and sewage, is treated through bioremediation using
wetland plants, producing up to 1,600 cubic meters of clean water per day.

The site is flat and low-lying, with an average elevation of only 0.5 meters, and was originally swampland with high groundwater levels. Traditional Thai agricultural wisdom was adapted by elevating tree root zones to avoid flooding and incorporating raceways and irrigation canals to manage drainage and water distribution, demonstrating climate-adaptive strategies rooted in local knowledge.

The project transformed compacted clay soil into a wet, spongy habitat capable of supporting a diverse native plant ecosystem with minimal irrigation. A total of 5,600 seedlings representing 360 rare indigenous tree species from Thailand’s central river basin were planted, combined with small to medium-sized plants that provide shade and support early growth. Existing trees on site were preserved and integrated into the design, reinforcing ecological continuity.

Cut-and-fill earthwork techniques were used to create varied landforms across the site. Materials from on-site demolition, including stone and concrete, were reused as foundations for berm islands and as filtration layers within the water treatment system. Existing concrete paving blocks were reused for bicycle parking areas, while former tobacco factory buildings were renovated into new facility spaces, reducing
construction waste through circular material reuse.

The park is accessible to people from surrounding communities and across Bangkok, offering a place to immerse in a holistic urban ecosystem. Wetland islands serve as refuges for wildlife, enhancing biodiversity within the city. The park is connected by a 1.67-kilometer-long universally accessible skywalk, functioning as a running path, leisure route, and nature learning corridor. Inclusive public spaces throughout the park include bicycle paths, shaded walkways, boardwalks, healing gardens, open lawns,
and waterfront gathering spaces. Renovated factory buildings are planned as museums and sports centers featuring sun-roofs, natural ventilation, and indoor trees to improve air quality and energy efficiency within a limited budget.

Benjakitti Forest Park has also become an important urban habitat for wildlife. More than 200 bird species have been recorded, including migratory species such as the Scaly-breasted Munia, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, and Ornate Sunbird (ref: ebird.org), establishing the park as a key birdwatching destination in Bangkok.
By creating a holistic ecosystem within the city, Benjakitti Forest Park serves as a biodiverse botanical classroom, demonstrating how sustainable landscape design can restore ecological function while enriching urban life.

Benjakitti Forest Park

Design Firm: Arsomsilp Community and Environmental Architect + TURENSCAPE
Design Consultant: Turenscape, China
Client: The Treasury Department Tobacco Authority of Thailand
Structure Engineering: KASEMDESIGN & CONSULTALT
M&E Engineering: Optimology Co., Ltd
Construction Management: Stonehenge Co., Ltd
Contractor: Royal Thai Army
Signage Design: Plan Motif Co., Ltd
Universal Design: Center of Excellence in Universal Design, Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University

Text: Arsomsilp Community and Environmental Architect

Image Credit: Arsomsilp Community and Environmental Architect; W Workspace Company Limited;

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Nestled in the Elk Mountain Range of west-central Colorado, Redstone is situated along the banks of the Crystal River just south of its confluence with Coal Creek. Adjacent to Redstone is the Coal Basin region, home to a high-quality coalfield. Despite the treacherous terrain and formidable climatic conditions, this natural coal deposit became a catalyst for the rich cultural history and industrial heritage of Redstone. Left to decay after coke production ended in 1908, the ovens were under serious threat when residents began working to save them.

COMMUNITY
Through a Preservation America – Historic Preservation Funds Grant awarded to Pitkin County, the landscape architect was contracted to design a Historic Park Master Plan. Core objectives included involving the community throughout the design process, promoting heritage tourism in Redstone, and providing an exemplary case study to inspire other communities to protect and promote their historic legacies. A key part of the planning was the creation of a steering committee consisting of advisors from the Redstone Historic Preservation Committee, concerned residents, and representatives from Pitkin County.

LIVING DESIGN
In addressing the Redstone Coke Ovens Historic Park site, a simple yet compelling design focused efforts on implementing cost-effective solutions while improving the environmental condition of the postindustrial landscape. One major theme prevailed as the design dialogue progressed—expressing the “essence of time”. Visitors see a gradient of decay as they walk from the fully restored coke ovens towards those being consumed by the landscape, allowing time’s action to manifest physically.

INDUSTRIAL UNDERSTANDING
Residents seeking to preserve the landmark wanted to ensure that the design did not overwhelm the coke ovens’ character and that future visitors could engage with the site in an honest setting. Once stabilized, the ovens no longer required protective fencing, removing any physical barriers. A simple circulation network was established along the rail line, bringing boxcars loaded with unprocessed coal right up to the wharf, where they were unloaded. Visitors can get close to the wharf wall and see that it was built from the same stone that gave Redstone its name. The importance of these coke ovens cannot be overstated. At the height of the industrial revolution, coke was essential for processing the metal that made the movement possible. Seeing the massive scale of the operation in such an isolated location speaks to the incredible moment in history the coke ovens represent.

IMPACT
Embracing the challenges of tight budget constraints, phasing requirements, and limited design fees, the landscape architect focused on creating a cohesive series of spaces deeply rooted in heritage and geographical context, which can be expanded upon as circumstances allow.

Redstone Coke Ovens

Location: Redstone, Colorado, USA

Landscape Architect: bluegreen
Architectural Restoration: JVA Consulting Engineers

Image Credits: bluegreen
Text Credit: bluegreen

Photography Credits: Marion Brenner Photography; Sam Smith Wilkey, Crystal River Jeep Tours;

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The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) is pleased to announce that Robert N. Allsopp, OALA, MALA (Hon), FCSLA, RIBA is the 2026 recipient of the Governor General’s Medal in Landscape Architecture.

The Governor General’s Medal in Landscape Architecture (GGMLA) is the highest honour the CSLA bestows on a landscape architect. The biennial medal honours exceptional landscape architects whose lifetime achievements and contributions to the profession have had a unique and lasting impact on Canadian society.

The impact of Robert Allsopp’s work continues to resonate—in the landscapes of the National Capital, in the practices of those he has influenced, and in the evolving stature of landscape architecture itself.

Robert Allsopp is a giant of the Canadian landscape architecture profession whose extraordinary six-decade career has left an enduring mark on the profession and on the Canadian landscape.
Throughout his distinguished career, Robert has consistently broken new ground for landscape architecture, demonstrating the transformative potential of the profession through exemplary practice, education, collaboration, and advocacy. His body of work includes many notable and award-winning projects, but his influence extends far beyond individual commissions. His work with the National Capital Commission has helped shape the physical fabric of Canada’s capital, creating landscapes experienced and enjoyed by generations of Canadians and by visitors from around the world. The enduring presence of these places is a powerful testament to the quality, ambition, and integrity of his practice.

Jury Statement (partial)

Robert Allsopp will receive the medal at a ceremony in January 2027 at Rideau Hall.

Read the full jury statement and see some of Robert N. Allsopp’s work on the CSLA announcement.

Images: Courtesy of CSLA

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Stephanie Lau is a Senior Project Manager at EADG and a California-licensed landscape architect whose practice bridges design innovation across the Pacific. With over seven years of professional experience in California and now based in Hong Kong, she leads a diverse range of projects from concept through construction.

WLA recently had the chance to learn about her career in different countries and her advice for young designers.

WLA | What is your favourite part of being a landscape architect?

What I love most is the wide-ranging and dynamic nature of the discipline. Our training is uniquely holistic compared to many other built environment professions—it goes far beyond planting design to encompass site planning, ecological systems, climate resilience, and community engagement.

Because we are taught to look at the big picture and bridge so many different disciplines, there is still incredible untapped potential in what landscape architecture can achieve. It is exciting to be part of a profession where the boundaries are constantly expanding and there is always new territory to explore.

WLA | You have worked in the USA and China; how does landscape architecture (practice) differ in these countries?

Having practiced in both the US and Asia, the most notable differences come down to client dynamics, team hierarchy, and scope of work. Moving to Hong Kong was certainly a valuable learning curve as I adjusted to a distinct set of project mechanics and client expectations.

In the US, the client-consultant relationship tends to be highly collaborative and advisory. Clients often look to the professionals they hire to guide them through site constraints, weigh alternatives, and refine the program together. In contrast, the market in Hong Kong moves at an extraordinary pace and is driven by highly ambitious visioning. There is a strong emphasis on delivery and efficiency, where designers are expected to be exceptionally resourceful problem-solvers who can seamlessly integrate complex wish lists into reality.

Scope also scales differently due to team structures. In the US, landscape architects often prime projects like small parks or urban plazas independently, taking on a broad spatial lead. In Hong Kong, even modest public space projects typically involve a full multidisciplinary team—including architects, structural engineers, and landscape designers—right from day one. While this focuses the landscape architect’s scope on specific spatial and ecological integration, it also creates a rich, highly coordinated team environment suited to dense urban environments.

WLA | What advice would you give young designers entering the landscape architecture profession?

While the nature of practice varies across regions, one constant is the importance of taking complete pride in the distinct value landscape architects bring to the table.

My biggest advice to young designers is to step up and own your seat at the design table with confidence. Because our work intersects with so many spatial, social, and ecological layers, it can be easy to underestimate our influence within a multidisciplinary team. Approach every project with high professional standards, rigor, and curiosity. When you show up as a proactive, collaborative, and equal partner alongside architects and engineers, you naturally elevate the entire team dynamic and shape how our profession is valued.

Thank you to Stephanie for taking the time to provide her thoughts on her career and advice for young designers.

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Finsbury Circus Gardens is one of the UK’s most significant park regeneration projects. Encircled by an oval architectural circus, the Grade II Listed garden occupies the historic site of Moor Fields, London’s first public park established in 1606, and remains the largest green space in the Square Mile.

The landscape originated through both natural and human intervention when the Roman London Wall partially dammed the River Walbrook, creating marshy fenland conditions that inspired the name “Fens-bury.” Over centuries, the park has served many civic purposes, including archery grounds, laundry drying, promenades, temporary shelter for people displaced by the Great Fire of London and the Black Death, and the former location of Bethlem Royal Hospital (“Bedlam”), England’s first psychiatric hospital.

Today, the site forms part of a key pedestrian network linking Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations, while challenging underground conditions include the Victorian Metropolitan Railway tunnel lying just 60cm beneath the eastern lawn.

Occupied by Crossrail works between 2010–2020 during construction of the Elizabeth Line, the park was subsequently reimagined through an international design competition. The winning scheme creates a revitalised, equitable, accessible and biodiverse public space, enhancing climate resilience and providing a tranquil haven for both people and nature.

The design concept draws inspiration from the site’s layered history, material character, and evolving relationship between people and place. Three historic elements underpin the concept: the nearby Roman London Wall and Moorgate, built largely from Kentish Ragstone; the River Walbrook, which created the marshy Moor Fields; and Moor Fields itself, London’s first planned public park.

The masterplan restores the space as a green civic refuge through three interwoven layers: character and use zones, access and circulation, and biodiversity and habitat creation. Inspired by the concentric ovals of the surrounding circus, mature tree ring, and historic circular path, the landscape introduces distinct character areas: intimate woodland gardens to the west, open marsh-inspired SuDS raingardens to the east, biodiverse inner gardens with drought-tolerant planting, and a flexible central lawn for communal use.

The scheme delivers six new habitats, 12 climate-resilient tree species, more than 13,000 plants and 6,000 bulbs. Over 90% of paving was reused or UK-sourced, useable lawn space increased by 50%, seating nearly doubled from 220 to 420 places, and planting beds expanded by 27%, contributing to a 19.5% Biodiversity Net Gain.

Accessibility has been significantly improved with a new primary route and secondary perimeter promenades, with informal tertiary paths weaving through planting. Material choices reference the site’s history and geology. Kentish Ragstone recalls the Roman Wall, while serpentine paths and river-washed boulder paving evoke the River Walbrook. An inner limestone oval with sculptural benches reflects the surrounding circus with skateboard deterrent notches referencing heritage detailing of adjacent façades. Arched rain garden penetrations allude to historic Moorgate, and interpretation panels explain the site’s historical evolution, planting strategy, and civic role.

Active daily from dawn to dusk, the public space supports health and wellbeing, biodiversity and climate resilience, and delivers upon the vision for an inclusive, innovative, and sustainable city.

Finsbury Circus Gardens

Location: City of London, UK

Client: City of London Corporation
Lead Designer Landscape & Public Realm: Realm
Lead Consultant & Parks Office Architect: Studio Weave
Project Manager: Potter Raper
Planning Consultant: Tibbalds
Structural & Civil Engineers: Engenuiti
Mechanical and Electrical Engineers: XCO2
Arboriculture: TMA Environmental Consultants
Soils Scientist: Tim O’Hare Associates
Heritage & Archaeology: Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA)
Sustainability Consultant: Etude
Quantity Surveyor: Currie & Brown
Communications: Kanda
Listed fountain restoration: Rupert Harris Conservation
Main Contractor: Maylim

Image Credits and Copyright: Realm

Text Credit: Realm

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In collaboration with Exemplar Health, Urbis were engaged to develop the landscape design for the Frankston Hospital Redevelopment Project, serving the Greater Peninsula catchment area.

By designing a series of courtyards, internal and external greenspaces, and thresholds, we aim to connect the variety of hospital amenities through a unified campus approach, creating a welcoming and safe space for patients, staff, and the wider visiting community.

Our approach is guided through partnership and collaboration with Bunurong representatives to ensure the landscape design is underpinned by cultural safety, and that First Nations principles of ‘Healing Country, Healing People’ are front and centre in the designed outcomes.

Considerate of local coastal materials and native planting, Bunurong language and stories are embedded in the landscape in a journey of cultural and environmental connection and pride.

Frankston Hospital

Location: Frankston, Victoria, Australia

Landscape Architect: Urbis

Client: Health Infrastructure / BVN

Photos Credits: Finn Higgins

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Modern Urban landscapes are often shaped by political, economic and cultural forces, where spatial production is governed by capital structures and institutional control. Informal behaviors and unregulated public aspirations are frequently marginalized within highly ordered environments. Central Tianjin exemplifies this condition, where public space is expected to remain tidy and disciplined.

Yet along the Haihe River waterfront, residents have long reclaimed space through self-initiated daily practices. This site encompasses riverbank gathering areas, Shizilin Bridge and the Tianjin Eye. Over time, this river stretch has evolved into a vibrant social hub shaped by spontaneous routines — most notably the Haihe River diving tradition, a widely recognised urban spectacle that challenges Modern spatial norms.

These practices, rooted in daily needs, bring vitality to public space while generating tension with formal management systems, revealing a broader conflict between everyday-life demands and regulatory frameworks in contemporary urban governance.

In response to local residents — known as the “Diving Elders” — who engage in highly self-directed activities, this project moves beyond top-down control and reframes these tensions as an opportunity for revitalization. Spontaneous practices are understood as a catalyst for activating urban space and preventing underuse. The design bridges governance and lived experience, proposing a public-space model grounded in civic engagement and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

Through field surveys, questionnaires and behavioral analysis, the project identifies patterns of use and spatial needs. Informal activities — once seen as management challenges — are reinterpreted as opportunities for civic co-creation, enabling residents to shift from independent users to collaborative partners in shaping urban space.

Rooted in residents’ physical and everyday needs, the design advances three principles: respecting daily life, embracing spontaneity and fostering co-governance. Four integrated strategies are proposed:
Participatory Management Framework
A governance system involving designers, authorities and residents ensures adaptive management and
shared stewardship.
Interactive Feedback Infrastructure
Physical and digital platforms collect user input, ensuring responsive spatial adaptation.
Seasonal Spatial Programming
Four-season events — spring carnival, summer diving festival, autumn recreation and winter gatherings — sustain continuous public activity.
Spatial Retrofit & Safety Integration
The waterfront is upgraded with modular platforms, standardized diving structures, accessible water interfaces and essential amenities, balancing safety and flexibility.

Based on seasonal variation and usage patterns, three scenarios are defined: daily leisure, community gathering and winter adaptation. This year-round approach bridges governance and everyday life, unlocking more inclusive and dynamic public space. More importantly, the project reframes informal practices as a productive force in shaping the city. By enabling activities such as river diving, it transforms a once-contested waterfront into a shared civic landscape — suggesting a paradigm in which public space is continuously re-created by users.

Student1: 党方红（Fanghong Dang) – Supervisor 孙奎利(Kuili Sun) 天津美术学院 (Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts)
Student2: 张永欣(Yongxin Zhang) – Supervisor 王越(Yue Wang) 山东建筑大学(Shandong Jianzhu University)
Student3: 石珏玮(Juewei Shi) – Supervisor 张春彦(Chunyan Zhang) 天津大学（Tianjin University）
Supervisor: 郭哲良(Zheliang Guo) 华南理工大学（South China University of Technology）

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As cities across the world face increasingly intense summer heat, shade is becoming an increasingly important part of how public spaces are designed and experienced. Vestre introduces GLADE, a new pergola system designed by Norwegian furniture designer Allan Hagerup to provide shade while giving large, open environments a stronger sense of place and a more human scale.

GLADE pergola marks Vestre’s entry into a new product category. It is Vestre’s first large-scale overhead structure, expanding the company’s collection from furniture and smaller spatial elements to a structure that helps shape the spaces around it.

The design draws on a familiar experience: standing beneath a tree canopy, where sunlight filters through rather than being blocked out. GLADE translates this experience into a precise system of overhead slats that filters sunlight and casts changing patterns of light and shadow across the ground, while carefully shaped aluminum surfaces catch and reflect light differently as the sun moves. The name refers to a clearing in a forest — an open space where sunlight reaches the ground through the canopy.

“As cities face more days of extreme heat, shade is becoming an increasingly important part of how we design and experience public space. GLADE marks a new category for Vestre, but it’s built on something we’ve always believed in: that good public space brings people together. It’s not only about protection from the sun — it’s about creating places where people want to stay, meet and belong.”

Bjørn Fjellstad, CEO of Vestre.

Shade as part of public life

Shade is increasingly recognized as an important part of the public realm, alongside trees, vegetation and other strategies for addressing urban heat. GLADE approaches shade as a permanent part of the built environment. Its open structure provides protection from direct sunlight while maintaining visibility and movement through the space. Large plazas, parks, campuses and other public environments can often feel exposed at a human scale; GLADE creates an open frame that helps divide larger spaces into more inviting areas without creating an enclosed room. Within the structure, benches, tables and other furniture can be arranged to support different ways of meeting, eating, working, playing or simply spending time outdoors.

Designing the shadow

In this sense, designing GLADE has been as much about designing a shadow as designing an object.
The spacing of the overhead slats was carefully considered to balance effective shade and openness, dense enough to provide meaningful shade, but never so dense that it becomes a solid roof. Rather than blocking the sky, GLADE filters sunlight, so daylight and views remain part of the experience.
The system is available in two main geometries: a rectangular form designed to cover larger areas and follow existing site lines and edges, suited to larger seating groups and multi-use furniture; and a pentagonal form that creates a more centered gathering space with a stronger sense of a central gathering point. The pentagon never quite resolves into a fixed grid when multiple units are combined, allowing looser, more organic configurations, and comes in two heights for added variation. It works well in a plaza or open urban space, functioning as both a destination and a landmark.

Combining the Vestre design language with a new material

GLADE introduces a new product category for Vestre and is the company’s first larger product that can be produced entirely using extruded and cast recycled aluminum. For Hagerup, this created a design challenge: how to give the structure a clear identity of its own while making sure it still feels at home alongside Vestre’s existing furniture.

“Vestre has a strong design identity, even though the collection has been developed by many different designers,” says Allan Hagerup. “For me, the challenge was to create something that feels like a Vestre product, but with a completely different starting point in material and production.”

The design carries forward elements of Vestre’s clear, flat-based design language, while the use of extruded aluminum makes it possible to introduce softer curves and transitions. This is particularly visible in the posts, the parts of GLADE that people come closest to and can physically touch.
The roof slats can also be supplied in wood, adding a warmer, more natural expression and allowing wood and aluminum slats to be combined when several GLADE structures are used together.
The relationship with the furniture beneath and around GLADE was equally important. The structure is deliberately kept clear and restrained so that it defines the space without competing with the furniture. Its different sizes have been tested against Vestre’s furniture collection to explore how the elements can be combined to create social outdoor spaces.

Engineered through collaboration

Behind GLADE’s simple expression is a highly developed aluminum system created in close collaboration with Vestre’s industrial partners. Both the extruded and cast components were developed specifically for the product, based on requirements for structural strength, precision, assembly, transportation and repair.

Vestre developed the extruded profiles in collaboration with Hydro Extrusion. Rather than adapting standard parts, Vestre developed the aluminum profiles from scratch, integrating structural strength, connection points and assembly logic directly into the extrusion. The cast components were developed in collaboration with Østlandske Lettmetall, allowing the casting process to be adapted specifically to GLADE’s form, function and connections. “Working closely with both partners has allowed us to combine different production methods and adapt them to the construction of GLADE. This has helped us create a lighter, more precise system that is also simpler to assemble, transport and repair,” says Nicolai Gulliksen, industrial designer and project manager at Vestre.

Industrial sustainability

GLADE was developed with its entire lifecycle in mind from the start. Production, packing, transportation, assembly, repair and eventual material circulation informed both its construction and material choices. The custom extruded profiles use Hydro CIRCAL 75 recycled aluminum, while the cast components are made from 100% recycled aluminum. The roof slats can also be supplied in wood, allowing the material expression to adapt to different settings — and creating opportunities to combine wood and aluminum when multiple GLADE structures are used together. Sustainability is therefore built into GLADE’s industrial logic, rather than added to the finished product.

Allan Hagerup designed GLADE, and Vestre now offers it. https://www.vestre.com/products/pergola/glade-pergola

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