Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields Case Study Bloomfield, NJ

Wolfram Hoefer, Dr.-Ing, Associate Professor

Department of Landscape Architecture, Co-Director Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability (CUES)

School of Environmental and Biological Sciences

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Department of Landscape Architecture

Department of Environmental SciencesCUES

Office for Agriculture and Urban Programs

Active community engagementCollaborative research and design process

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture:Just private gardens and high end residential developments?

NYC

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture just for rich places?

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture is much more needed in NJ’s urban centersUrban Extension needs to help!

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Spring Brook Park – Bloomfield, NJTownhouse development was stopped Borough acquired landNJ Wetland Mitigation Council fundingPro bono help to transform a brownfield into a wetland

open space, resilience, and habitat issues.

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

18-acre urban site with ~10 feet of historic fill material (1920s – 1985)

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Contamination assessment 2005

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Credit for all photos: Beth Ravit

Property contamination investigation USDA-NRCS (National Resources Conservation Service)Ground Penetrating Radar – Human Transported Material, depth in feetHelps to quantify fill removal and depth to groundwater

Feet

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Facebook analysis

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Graduate Independent StudiesDean JanulisMegan CollinsJennifer Ryan

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

contour water management wetland vegetation Upland vegetationparking

Detention basin

Retention sequence

wetlands

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Inspired by the picturesquePooling water in wetlands

Megan Collins

Diverse wetland zonesContaminated soil moved upland and capped Soccer on clean fill cap

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Inspired by the engineered circle Pond as central feature

Dean Janulis

Diverse wetland zonesContaminated soil moved upland and capped Soccer on clean fill cap

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Bosque provides social spacerocks and logs playground

Diverse wetland zonesContaminated soil moved upland and capped Soccer on clean fill cap

Jennifer Ryan

Landscape Architecture Design for Urban Brownfields

Lessons Learned

Difficult environmental situations offer ample design opportunities.

Students learned how Landscape Architecture can transform engineered sites into attractive environments.

Pro bono work can contribute to discourse and foster solutions but cannot solve underlying political conflicts.