In a pioneering public-private partnership, our team collaborated with Workday, the City of Pleasanton and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to transform an unshaded and poorly lit vacant lot adjacent to a regional BART station. A celebration of natural beauty, the design for the new plaza echoes the topography of the region’s rolling ridges and valleys through evocative sculptural landforms, native oak groves, seasonal grasses and wildflower gardens.

The plant species selection creates a self-sustaining landscape that supports resilience in the dry climate. Benches unfold from the planter walls, forming a continuous white ribbon that frames the colorful gardens and compliments the forms and materials of the adjacent architecture. Energy-efficient LED lighting improves safety and accessibility, while the mosaic paver designs create visual interest year-round.

A new open-air pedestrian bridge and staircase, designed and detailed by our landscape architect, floats above the plaza, offering views of the verdant landforms. The bridge more than doubles the width of circulation to the train station, provides a bike channel on both sides of the staircase for multimodal commuting, and adds welcome signage to greet patrons. The transit experience is further improved through expanded bicycle parking, new pathways to city buses, and the lush canopy of oaks that provides shade in warmer months.

The resulting design creates a true sense of place and integrates nature into the daily commute. This investment in the public transit experience will help to incentivize ridership, reduce reliance on automobiles, cut carbon emissions and encourage new mixed-use development in the area surrounding this attractive new park.