New York, New York, USA

Appointed by theHudson River Park Trust, OLIN landscape and urban design architects have managed to provideenvironmental education opportunities and offer recreation and leisure spaces for people of all ages.

The Pier 26 project has been awarded a 2021 American Award for Architecture from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Pier 26 is located in the Hudson River Park near the Tribeca neighborhood and reaches out and over the Hudson River with striking views to the Statue of Liberty and One World Trade Center.

The Pier 26 walkthrough is a journey through transitions—from upland to lowland, from land to water, and across a diverse milieu of human experiences.

The manifestations of endemic ecologies establish an unmistakable sense of place and inspire deeper exploration of the lands we inhabit and the waters we depend upon.

The experience of Pier 26 is intuitive for every user; everyone can find a comfortable or relaxing or energizing place to be, at all times of the day and through all seasons of the year.

The park is a place of natural, social, and self-discovery, where everyone feels a sense of
belonging and a connection to the natural world.

Species of all kinds thrive in the gradient of conditions within the estuary itself and on the surrounding lands, ascending from the riverbed to marshy, rocky tide pools, then to scrubby dune escapes, grassy embankments, and finally the wooded treeline.

People have been attracted to these landscapes since the dawn of civilization, but as indigenous communities ceded to colonial villages and then towns and cities, human activity has consumed and drastically altered the ecosystems which drew our ancestors to these lands in the first place.

Now looking back in time before the dawn of the Anthropocene, we struggle to recall what was before we tipped the scale.

Pier 26, one of many disused maritime docking points along the Hudson River, had been identified by the Hudson River Park Trust as an opportunity to create a didactic ecological experience.

This was an especially resonant approach because it was once the mooring point for the sloop Clearwater on which musician, folklorist, and environmentalist Pete Seeger invited Manhattan school groups to sail with his crew along the Hudson, to learn about the estuary and become active stewards in its preservation.

More than 40 years later, many of those kids still call the same Tribeca neighborhood home, but also in that time the population has exploded and massively diversified, creating an acute need for more active park space, play opportunities, and social programming.

The challenge for the OLIN team was to transmute these ostensibly competing expectations into a unified, iconic design.

It was the pre-colonial image of the Hudson River Estuary and its shoreline ecotones that served as the bedrock of OLIN’s vision for Pier 26 at Hudson River Park.

The team conceptualized the park as a transect through the indigenous ecologies of the Manhattan shoreline and out into the estuary itself.

These eco-zones—the Woodland Forest, the Coastal Grassland, the Maritime Scrub, and
finally the Rocky Tidal Zone and the estuary—recall the shoreline conditions which would have been found along Manhattan Island prior to colonial settlement.

The Woodland Forest is densely populated with dozens of indigenous trees, shrubs, and groundcover species, all welcoming habitats for pollinators.

The Coastal Grassland is breezy and open, accommodating much of the park’s active programming.

The Maritime Scrub is a ruggedly beautiful landscape, its sandy soil mix populated with hardy, low shrubs and conifers.

Past the pier’s edge lies the Tide Deck, a submerged concrete platform that serves as the foundation of the Rocky Tidal Zone.

This entirely constructed wetland, built more than 700 feet from shore, features a field of more than 1,300 granite boulders interspersed with switchgrass.

Circular depressions carved into the boulders catch water as the tide ebbs. This eco-zone has quickly become a haven for a variety of algae, plant, and animal life, with myriad species sighted within the constructed riverscape just days after it was completed.

The social program of Pier 26 is woven in and among these landscapes. Two key features slated for future completion are an educational playscape and an estuarium, a research facility dedicated to studying and restoring the Hudson River Estuary.

The future playscape will be home to two massive wooden sturgeons, each modeled after protected indigenous species, where kids can explore from the top, bottom, inside, and out, and climb aquatic grass nets designed to mimic the reeds and grasses found along the riverbed.

The Great Lawn, an 11,000 square foot, angled grass panel, is sized to accommodate events of up to 900 people.

Shaded pathways through the Woodland Forest welcome families pushing strollers, crowds of friends, and joggers.

A large multi-use Sport Court for organized sports and informal play bursts energetically into view near the midpoint of the pier, its surface and surrounding netting specified in eye-catching shades of marine blue.

Beyond the Sport Court, nestled directly into the heart of the Maritime Scrub zone, two rectangular sheds each house a pair of wide, welcoming porch swings oriented toward the water.

Each shed features its own materiality—one made of wooden slats, the other of punctured steel plates—allowing dappled light and breezes to filter through.

Stretching out and down from the edge of the pier, a steel walkway structure hovers above the Rocky Tidal Zone just eight feet above the water’s surface at low tide; at high tide, the lapping water splashes waves up and over its edges.

The park’s most iconic feature, built on top of and stretching beyond the reaches of the original pier, is a single, 850-foot long piece of furniture: the Social Deck.

Made of ebony wood, the deck begins as an elevated walkway rising gracefully upward into the tree canopy of the Woodland Forest before expanding into a windbreak and amphitheater-style steps from which spectators can cheer on events at the Sport Court.

Seating and lounging elements of all shapes and sizes can be found along with the Social Deck, from bar-height stools to custom chaise-style chairs.

At the end of the pier, the Social Deck branches upward into a pair of angled ramps which converge to form the Viewing Deck, a wide, blunted point 850 feet from shore and up to 13 feet above the river’s surface.

From this vantage point, visitors have a 360-degree panoramic view of Lower Manhattan, the upriver viewshed, downtown Hoboken, New Jersey, the downriver viewshed, the Statue of Liberty, and the Freedom Tower.

The deck offers many opportunities to linger and enjoy this singular experience; graciously angled railings provide a comfortable spot to lean, whether chatting with a friend or taking a selfie, and lounge chairs beckon visitors to stretch out and relax.

Through the design of the Viewing Deck, the OLIN team sought to evoke a sense of wonder and exhilaration—perhaps the thrill of adventure felt by an early sailor…or a kid on a field trip aboard the Clearwater.

Project: Pier 26 at Hudson River Park
Landscape Architect/Lead Designer: OLIN
Design Team: Lucinda Sanders, Demetrios Staurinos, Trevor Lee, Judy Venonsky, and Jamee Kominski
Surveyor: GSESP, Inc.
Structural Engineer: Silman
Marine Engineer: MRCE
Ecologist: Biohabitats
Lighting Designer: Tillett Lighting Design, Inc.
MEP Engineer: Wesler-Cohen
Irrigation: Northern Designs, Inc.
Environmental Graphics: Pentagram
Playground Design: MONSTRUM
Contractor: Gilbane Building Company
Client: Hudson River Park Trust
Photographers: Sahar Coston-Hardy Barrett Doherty Max Guliani for Hudson River Park