Valade Park (Atwater Beach)
Robert C. Valade Park (Atwater Beach)
Geography: Detroit, Michigan
March 2018-September 2019
Sub-consultant to Mannik+Smith Group and Commercial Contracting Corporation
Client: The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy (DRFC)
Atwater Beach is an urban beach on the eastern end of the Detroit Riverwalk near Stroh Riverplace which will provide residents and visitors with a unique recreational experience along the “bridge to bridge” riverfront greenway. The studio[Ci] team was honored to serve as a sub-consultant to M+SG/CCC, working closely with civil, and landscape design to provide schematic design, design development, and construction documents (CDs) for west side park features, including: The Lifeguard Playscapes, The Community Grill, and the Whiskeytown Barge. Our goals are to translate the conceptual design direction created by Groundswell Design (Philadelphia, PA), the Client’s established standards and direction, the City of Detroit’s codes and regulations, in order to provide beach constituents with a safe, fun, and dynamic public realm experience. Since the park opened in Fall 2019, it has become a well-loved, well-used part of the city and adjoining neighborhoods.
