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Domino Park – 2020 ULI Urban Open Space Awards Winner
May 20, 2020
Photo By Barrett Doherty
The Lawn—with views south to the landmark Refinery building and the Williamsburg Bridge—is a popular spot for sunbathing, people watching, picnicking, and leisure recreation.
Photo By Barrett Doherty
The Elevated Walk’s southern entrance houses a taco stand and leads to an ADA-accessible elevated catwalk, which is supported by 21 columns from the Raw Sugar Warehouse that were salvaged in situ.
Location: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Owner: Two Trees Management
Designer: James Corner Field Operations
Additional Team Members: Philip Habib & Associates (Civil Engineer); Silman (Site Structural Engineer); Altieri Sebor Wieber LLC (Site MEP Engineer); Soucy Aquatik (Water Feature Designer); Noë & Associates (Identity, Wayfinding, Signage); Mark Reigelman (Playground Artist); Site Masters, Inc (Play Safety Consultant); Lighting Workshop (Lighting Designer); Craul Land Scientists (Soil Science); Northern Designs (Irrigation); Kelco (Landscape Contractor); SHoP Architects with Vishaan Chakrabarti (Master Plan Architecture Lead)
Site Size: 5 acres (2 hectares)
Number of People Served (within a half-mile): 170,000
Opened: June 10, 2018
Website: https://www.dominopark.com/
Photo By Daniel Levin
The Fog Bridge gives visitors a unique way to experience the East River and highlights the park’s structure below.
Domino Park is part of the critical transformation of the former Domino Sugar Factory site into a mixed-use, vibrant space within an area that previously had one of the lowest open space to people ratios in the city. Inspired by community input and the site’s rich history, the 5-acre park reconnects the Williamsburg neighborhood to the East River for the first time in 160 years.
Photo By Daniel Levin
Domino Park’s design capitalizes on the expanse of the East River and the sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline.
Domino Park showcases the legacy of an iconic industrial waterfront site through an “Artifact Walk,” which integrates over 30 large-scale salvaged relics into an interpretive walk and engaging journey, including 21 original columns from the Raw Sugar Warehouse, gantry cranes, screw and bucket conveyors, and syrup tanks. The park is raised above FEMA flood elevations with many native plant species that reduce stormwater runoff and function as an absorbent sponge and first line of defense against sea level rise.
Photo By Barrett Doherty
The central water feature draws families from all backgrounds and offers views of the Williamsburg Bridge and East River.
The park is one of the first projects to be certified under WEDG (Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines), an incentive-based ratings system to make waterfronts more resilient, environmentally healthy, accessible, and equitable for all. Domino Park offers a wide range of active and passive uses and has been embraced by the diverse community it serves with over 2 million visitors since opening in June 2018.