Field Operations Wins New Presidio Parklands Project

When I visited the office of James Corner Field Operations last month for a studio visit feature, the firm was eagerly awaiting word on the Presidio Parklands Project competition, in which they were up against teams led by Snøhetta, Olin, West 8, and CMG. That word came yesterday from the Presidio Trust, who is overseeing the project in partnership with the National Parks Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

The new parkland will be built over an at-grade roadway that will replace an existing elevated highway along the water's edge. The renderings show paths winding through planted dunes with an elevated walkway leading to an overlook suitably oriented toward the Golden Gate Bridge. Yet, as Presidio Trust Executive Director Craig Middleton told SFGate, they held "a competition for a team, not a competition for a design." So the built results, come 2018, could be different than the winning renderings; any changes will come out of workshops that will begin in early 2015.

Field Operations' team is made up of EHDD, Rockwell Group, Gregoire Associates, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, HR&A Advisors, Richard Turner, Perry & Associates Collaborative, and Greenlee & Associates.