Let there be plants! / Conrad Square gets a refresh

Intended as a short-term beautification and improvement to Joseph Conrad Square in San Francisco’s North Beach/Fisherman’s Wharf neighborhood, Carducci Associates’ landscape plan preserves existing trees and introduces a low growing and varied plant palette designed to draw and welcome visitors in all seasons.

The low growing planting and improved landscape lighting – two basic principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) – were incorporated in response to the community’s ongoing concerns regarding criminal activity in the space. These elements will help to increase visibility and surveillance, thus making it a safer place to occupy throughout the day, and night.

On January 17th, the first phase of Conrad Square was completed in collaboration with the Fisherman’s Wharf Community Benefit District and the SF Rec & Parks. (The SF Rec & Parks Dept. obtained the plant materials, compost, and the mulch; it used 20 gardeners to install the planting in one day.) The first phase included: clearing previous planting that might have encouraged unwanted activity. In turn, this allowed the new succulent and drought-tolerant garden to take root on-site. Check out the new plants if you’re in the area!

More information about our project is available here.

On the Boards / Site Visit

Combining Infrastructure and Place-Making in Civic Space / Friends of Five Creeks Features El Cerrito City Hall Design

This month’s atmospheric river in Northern California is an apt backdrop for the San Francisco Bay Area blog Blue-Green Building: Building Cities that Protect Streams, Bay, and Ocean feature on Carducci Associates’ El Cerrito City Hall. The civic space highlights the ability of landscape architecture to create ecological and hydrological systems as stormwater management infrastructure that also contributes to a sense of place and regional identity.

El Cerrito City Hall, built in 2010, consists of a LEED-certified building and landscape that are designed to complement each other. Recycled building and site run-off irrigate the California native plant demonstration garden and drought-tolerant plantings. Custom furnishings include a fountain inspired by the journey of water that travels from the Sierra Nevada to the Pacific Ocean.

The full article can be read here, and more information about our project is available here.

Blue-Green Building is written by Friends of Five Creeks, “an all-volunteer creek- and watershed-restoration group working in North Berkeley, Albany, Kensington, and south El Cerrito, and Richmond, Alameda, and Contra Costa Counties” in California.

Carducci Associates' custom seating and fountain accompany a native, drought-tolerant, and educational civic space.

Site Visit