April 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 46

DYNAMIC DESIGN
In parallel with the research-design
effort, the project team reached out to
North End community members at
public meetings where open, honest
and inclusive engagement methods
allowed residents to share their visions
for this beloved neighborhood
park. In addition, these meetings
were an opportunity for community
members to learn more about the
real threats and impacts of climate
change on their neighborhood.
These robust collaboration and
consensus-building efforts resulted
in a park that reflects an innovative
combination of climate mitigation
and coastal protection strategies
with high-design value. The design,
for example, raised important park
amenities to six feet above previous
site elevations, protecting these key
spaces from predicted sea level rise
and flood elevations and ensuring
local programming can continue
despite fluctuating conditions.
Similarly, a secondary seawall
protects the park's upper-level amenities
from damaging storm surges
and flood inundation. Subtly integrated
into the landscape, this seawall
functions as seating, planting
bed edges, a playground enclosure
and a boundary that separates recreational
activities. Additionally,
Boston's famed Harborwalk passes
through Langone Park, connecting
the North End with the neighborhood
of Charlestown in one direction
and the Seaport and South Boston
in the other.
Incorporated within the fabric of
the park space as a boardwalk at
the water's edge, the Harborwalk is
cantilevered above the harbor and
the old seawall. The boardwalk element,
however, is independent from
the rest of the elevated park spaces
and can be adapted incrementally
as seas continue to rise. This designed
adaptation can continue to
provide a seamless connection to
offsite and abutting properties and
will not impact the seawall.
With its expansive water views
and inviting sunsets, the Langone
Park portion of the Harborwalk
affords all users access to the water.
So often missing in urban,
coastal communities, this public
right-of-way
ensures walkability,
connectivity and social links to the
harbor are maintained for the community
and visitors alike. Taken
together, the improvements implemented
at Langone Park and Puopolo
Playground pioneered how
climate-resilient features could be
integrated into a multifunctional,
thoughtful and cohesive design.
Langone Park and Puopolo
Playground represent an active
recreational lifeline for one of
Boston's
most
densely
populated
neighborhoods. With no other such
assets nearby, this park space offers
critical and equitable recreation
opportunities
to a diverse and
multigenerational local population
in addition to visitors from across the
globe. Amenities include a universal
access
playground,
bocce
and
basketball courts, a Little League field
and multisport turf field, a variety of
seating options, the Harborwalk with
the pier and interpretative signage,
and a memorial garden.
Given the critical role the park
and playground play in serving the
wider community, the project team
worked diligently to complete the
improvements in a timely manner.
However, construction efforts continued
to reveal the site's diverse
history as excavation efforts uncovered
old building foundations, buried
granite blocks and large swaths
of urban fill. Each discovery led
to distinct challenges and opportunities.
The team reclaimed 273
granite blocks from the excavated
materials, which they integrated
into the site design as artful walls
and seating elements that serendipitously
honor the past. In addition,
the geotechnically poor soils necessitated
adjustments to the proposed
design and extensive collaboration
with the
permitting agencies to
Langone Park and Puopolo
Playground represent an active
recreational lifeline for one of
Boston's most densely populated
neighborhoods.
46 Parks & Recreation | APRIL 2 0 2 4 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
achieve the city's climate-resiliency
goals. These unexpected realities
were not insurmountable, but they
did extend the project's schedule.
Going forward, the project team
recommends that future resiliency
projects account for additional
time and services to address the
range of complexities that can accompany
novel design approaches.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WESTON & SAMPSON
April 2024 – Parks & Recreation

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