CMG Landscape Architecture

Reach 2 of San Francisco Waterfront Flood Study's Draft Plan is the Embarcadero, which focuses on raising the seawall at the shoreline edge with a gradual transition to connect the shoreline to the existing city elevation across the Embarcadero, maintaining the city’s connection to the waterfront and adapting historic wharves and buildings.⁠
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The Draft Plan is part of the San Francisco Waterfront Flood Study by the City of San Francisco and U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), which analyzes the coastal flood risk and effects of sea level rise for the 7.5 miles of waterfront from Aquatic Park to Heron’s Head Park. It is a critical milestone in San Francisco’s continued, long-term efforts to defend our waterfront against flood risk and sea level rise, while also enhancing the seismic stability of our waterfront’s flood management structures and complementing waterfront improvements. ⁠
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Learn more at https://sfport.com/wrp/draft-plan
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Project Team: SITELAB Urban Studio, Pathways Climate Institute, Jacobs, and more on our website⁠.
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Images by CMG + SITELAB

UC Berkeley Lower Sproul Plaza sits at the urban interface of the college campus and the City of Berkeley. This project redefines a signature campus community space to reflect new values around open space, sustainability, and inclusivity by prioritizing people, plants, and water resources. ⁠
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The plaza design revitalizes the identity of the open space and improves the center of campus with flexible outdoor spaces and native plant gardens integrated with stairs and ramps for universal access, while artfully honoring the plaza's history and mid-century modern design.⁠
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Learn more about UC Berkeley Lower Sproul Plaza at www.cmgsite.com/places/university-of-california-berkeley-lower-sproul-plaza
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Project team: Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners, Rutherford + Chekene, Atelier Ten, Sherwood Design Engineers, McCarthy Building Companies, DVID, HLB Lighting Design, Syska Hennessy Group, TEECOM, Salter, Sussman/Prejza & Co Inc

The Great Highway Park Vision Project imagines the possibilities of the 17-acre space transformed from part-time promenade to full-time oceanfront park, with associated investments in park infrastructure and programming, as well as potential for dune restoration and protection from coastal flooding and erosion.⁠
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Great Highway Park today is a weekend-only oceanfront promenade visited by thousands for recreation, community-building, and sustainable transportation despite limited physical park infrastructure in place.⁠
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CMG joined as a collaborator to create preliminary visual assets that support the community engagement process led by Friends of Great Highway Park, an all-volunteer community group supporting the measure. ⁠
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The Vision is community-led and community-inspired, and is grounded in the following principles: Community, Climate + Nature Resilience, Accessibility, and Joy. A measure that would make the Great Highway a permanent park will be on the November ballot. ⁠
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Learn more at www.greathighwaypark.com
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Images 1-2 by David Enloe⁠
Renderings by CMG

Thank you to our friends, family, clients, collaborators, and Bay Area community for making this year's CMG party so much fun and supporting our mission to increase social and ecological wellbeing through artful design.⁠
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We are energized and excited for what the future holds as we continue to work together with all of you! 🌊🐙🐋🐚

The Oakland Alameda Adaptation Committee (OAAC) recently hosted a Zoom workshop to discuss what sea level rise means for Alameda and Oakland, and to talk about the tools to make our communities more resilient.⁠
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“This project will look at near-term solutions for these areas because they’re at risk of flooding with today’s king tides.” - Jamie Phillips, CMG Principal⁠
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Read more from the Alameda Post at www.cmgsite.com/practice/news

Tidal wetlands around the San Francisco Bay are vital to supplement anticipated loss of existing wetlands due to sea level rise. De-Pave Park will maximize the extent that nature can occur by embracing sea level rise as a wetland opportunity - mitigating future wetland loss and increasing inhabitable space for wildlife!⁠
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The team toured several wetlands, tidal salt marshes, and subtidal areas around the Bay Area to observe and analyze shoreline conditions, wetland habitats, and restoration opportunities as research and inspiration to inform the design of De-Pave Park.⁠
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Learn more about the project at www.cmgsite.com/places/depave-park

Reach 1 of San Francisco Waterfront Flood Study's Draft Plan is Fisherman's Wharf, which takes advantage of the existing higher ground and uses floodproofing and short floodwalls on piers and wharves to reduce near term damages to lower-lying buildings and assets.⁠
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The Draft Plan is part of the San Francisco Waterfront Flood Study by the City of San Francisco and U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), which analyzes the coastal flood risk and effects of sea level rise for the 7.5 miles of waterfront from Aquatic Park to Heron’s Head Park. It is a critical milestone in San Francisco’s continued, long-term efforts to defend our waterfront against flood risk and sea level rise, while also enhancing the seismic stability of our waterfront’s flood management structures and complementing waterfront improvements. ⁠
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Learn more at https://sfport.com/wrp/draft-plan
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Project Team: , , , and more on our website⁠.
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Images by CMG + SITELAB

Meta Headquarters is situated on a rapidly evolving and liminal landscape. Over the past 10 years, the campus has evolved into a complex mosaic of social spaces, ecology, infrastructure, and art.⁠
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While the mechanics and components of the building and landscape program have evolved throughout the years, the cultural need for places that create social interaction has remained constant. Observing how the campus is used and considering how it could be further improved informed new ideas and approaches for each phase of the campus. ⁠
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The rooftop park is more immersive, while the pathways throughout the campus encourage movement, smaller decks and trellises extend where the architecture engages with the landscape and provide pause. A series of art installations placed within the gardens enrich the experience of being within nature and encourages further exploration in the workplace.⁠
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Project team: Gehry Partners, BKF Engineers, Kier & Wright, Cornerstone Earth Group, and more on our website at www.cmgsite.com/places/meta-headquarters

CMG is proud to be part of the large and complex redevelopment of Treasure Island into sustainable, socially oriented landscapes.⁠
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The landscape design combines both magnificent natural parks and innovative urban spaces. Promenades and bike paths provide circulation throughout and promote a pedestrian-friendly environment, enhance the urban fabric, and capitalize on the site’s waterfront setting. The entire Treasure Island project will take advantage of the island’s setting to become one of the Bay Area’s significant open spaces.⁠
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Shown here is the future Cityside Park, a 300-foot-wide linear park that features a promenade at the bay's edge, and a sequence of park rooms and landscapes such as event lawns, plazas, native habitats, landforms, and overlooks. Learn more about Treasure Island at www.cmgsite.com/places/treasure-island-parks-open-space
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Rendering: Hayes Davidson / Wilson Meany⁠
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Project team: Page & Turnbull, BKF Engineers, AGS Engineers Joint Venture, Freyer & Laureta, Groundworks, RMA Irrigation, HLB Lighting Design, PAE Consulting Engineers, AETYPIC, Hobach-Lewin, James McNair, ENGEO Incorporated, Fehr & peers, PSD, MJM, Ware & Associates, Wallace Laboratories, Barrie Coate

We are excited to share that Civic Center Public Realm Plan received an Award of Excellence in the Urban Design category for APA California - Northern Section Planning Awards!⁠
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The San Francisco Public Realm Plan repositions Civic Center’s public realm as the heart of San Francisco’s democracy, vital open space for the city's highest-density neighborhoods, and a distinguished Beaux-Arts historic district. This vision was developed through an extensive community-based process that brought together cultural institutions, community groups, thousands of city residents and workers, and governmental stakeholders to reimagine an inclusive and equitable public space, a ceremonial gathering place that welcomes everyday use and inspires civic pride. ⁠
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The vision transforms Civic Center with three goals: re-establishing Civic Center as the heart of San Francisco’s democracy by welcoming all San Franciscans, prioritizing the urban forest for connection to nature, beauty, and shelter, and creating an inviting place for public life through open space activation and essential amenities.⁠
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Read more at www.cmgsite.com/places/civic-center-public-space-design
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Project team: Kennerly Architecture, Lotus Water, HRA Engineering, STRUCTUS, Inc., InterEthnica, M Lee Corporation, Gehl, Architecture + History, LLC, MJM Management, HR&A Advisors, Inc., JS Nolan & Associates Lighting Design

On May 18, experience a walking tour of San Francisco's Chinatown as part of ASLA Northern California's Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month celebration. This guided tour will feature stories of dedication from diverse professionals working to uplift the community through art and design - and includes a stop at Willie "Woo Woo" Wong Park + Playground!

Speakers include CMG Partner Willett Moss and leaders from the Chinese Culture Center and SWA Group.

Learn more and register at https://asla-ncc.org/event/writing-our-own-narratives-a-guided-tour-of-sf-chinatown-through-art-and-design

The construction of a new public space is underway at University of California San Diego!⁠
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As a lead design partner on UC San Diego's Triton Center, CMG has worked closely with the team since 2018 to build upon the existing campus open space framework to elevate legibility, identity, mobility, social spaces, and resiliency within the district. Together, we envisioned a cohesive public realm that will create “a transformational and student-centric project that will elevate and define a new heart for UC San Diego that welcomes all.”⁠
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We are deeply motivated by the university’s public charge and vision of how the campus can be a unit of change for San Diego through the intellectual, physical, and cultural lenses it holds central to its ongoing development. UC San Diego makes an impact internationally by representing locally. The addition of this new urban core on campus will further amplify this growing legacy and express UCSD’s young, maverick identity.⁠
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An important project goal is the metamorphosis of the site into a pedestrian-friendly center of activity. The public realm will be a universally accessible, curb-less environment where people can move fast or slow. Passageways will privilege pedestrians while accommodating bikes and create a space for casual encounters. Edges are envisioned as places to linger and help create a vibrancy with urban energy. ⁠
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Construction broke ground in Fall of 2023 and is expected to continue through 2026. ⁠
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Project team: HLB Lighting, Introba, LMN Architects, Latitude 33, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, McCarthy, NV5

CMG Senior Associate Will Benge will be speaking at the SERCAL Conference on May 10 along with Peter Brastow from San Francisco Environment Department!
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This session will explore the ongoing redevelopment of Yerba Buena Island and the collaborative design and planning efforts happening to restore the island's native ecology by way of parks, trails, and green infrastructure.⁠
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Learn more about the conference and register at https://sercal.org/conferences

CMG led the design and regulatory approval process for Pacific Commons, a 16-acre regional stormwater treatment wetland and Bay Trail system in Fremont, CA.⁠
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The design treats stormwater from a densely developed 514-acre watershed. Detailed hydrologic modeling indicates that the system will treat an average of nearly 90 percent of annual runoff 🌧️⁠
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Habitat creation, hydraulic requirements, water quality parameters, public access, and maintenance considerations are all integrated within this composed ecological design. A variety of wetland plant associations are combined in a sculpted mosaic that will emerge and evolve over time based on seasonal water depths and flows.

This month, Peninsula Crossing received approval from the Burlingame City Council!

Peninsula Crossing is a new open space destination for the Burlingame community and a sustainable workplace along the peninsula bay edge. The 12 acres of underutilized waterfront in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area are reimagined as a dynamic and thriving public realm that offers local retail, ample outdoor gathering areas, a restored creek and wetland, new pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure that includes a new section of the Bay Trail, and hundreds of new trees to provide increased shade cover and native habitat.

While the site is privately-owned, these spaces will be 100% accessible to the public! Next steps include project permitting and moving into construction of Phase 1.

Learn more about Peninsula Crossing at www.cmgsite.com/places/peninsula-crossing

Project team: WRNS Studio, Moffatt & Nichol, H.T. Harvey & Associates

This Thursday, April 25, experience an urban design and open space focused walking tour of San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood with AIASF Urban Design + Infrastructure Committee!⁠
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The tour will highlight how Mission Bay has changed over time as new development and projects have led to the creation of a network of urban public spaces - like Mission Creek Stormwater Park and Mission Rock - that have transformed the character of this neighborhood.⁠
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CMG's Willett Moss will be presenting, along with leaders from Urban Field Studio, Kristen Hall City Design, OCII, and UCSF. ⁠
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Learn more + purchase tickets at www.aiasf.org/event/aiasf-udic-walking-tour-mission-bay-neighborhood

Last month, Realize Flood Park held a community engagement workshop to receive feedback on the types of play and equipment desired at the park's new playground! The community shared ideas and preferences around playground themes, equipment, ground covering, color schemes, and more.⁠
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The engagement strategy for Flood Park focuses on equity and reaching a broad audience from across the community of park users. This was the first of several community events over the next few months that will inform and enrich the design of the new playground. ⁠
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Learn more about the project at www.cmgsite.com/places/realize-flood-park
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Project team: Page & Turnbull, BKF Engineers, RMA Irrigation, Golder Associates, SKEO Solutions, Cornerstone Earth Group, PROS Consulting, H.T. Harvey & Associates, Wallace Labs

Creating a new campus heart for the California State University Fullerton district, the Student Housing open space provides a large, flexible event lawn, as well as a multitude of smaller social gathering spaces for outdoor classrooms, study, and relaxation in the shade of broad canopy trees 🌳⁠
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The 8.63-acre site includes 4 acres of new campus passive and active programming – accommodating student activity of all scales. Learn more about California State University Fullerton Student Housing at www.cmgsite.com/places/california-state-university-fullerton-student-housing
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Images 1-3 by Tim Griffith⁠
Image 4 by Craig Maldonado⁠
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Project team: Steinberg Architects, PCL Construction

Progress is being made at Brady Block!⁠
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Brady Block, a multi-building, mixed-use, residential project that enhances the surrounding public realm and streetscape, is wrapping up construction in San Francisco’s Market Street/Van Ness Avenue redevelopment area.⁠
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In addition to adding 579 new market-rate and affordable residences across 6 buildings, the Brady Block creates more than 20,000 square feet of new publicly accessible open space, with the new Mazzola Gardens (shown here) and mid-block pedestrian passageways connecting the new open space to Market and 12th Streets.⁠
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The new public space welcomes visitors and local neighbors with a sculptural succulent and mediterranean mix planting palette and a new sensory play environment.⁠
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Project team: BDE Architecture, BKF Engineers, Suffolk Construction, Earthscape, Jensen Landscape

CMG Co-founder and Partner Willett Moss talks with CBS News Bay Area about the Civic Center Public Realm Plan and the need for a thriving urban forest to enhance the connection to nature, ecological value, beauty, and shelter in the heart of San Francisco 🌳
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"The biggest goal of the plan is to reintroduce vegetation on a grand scale. In addition to the existing 350 trees, add another 300 trees."⁠
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Read the full article + watch the interview at www.cmgsite.com/news

In March, our studio gathered for our annual Spring Town Hall! 🌷⁠
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This event creates space to have open and intentional conversations about our design, work, future goals, ideas, and culture, and to connect and have fun together.⁠
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Learn more about our team, practice, and mission at www.cmgsite.com/practice/mission

As the West Coast research hub for leading biotechnology companies dedicated to advancing science and creating innovative therapeutics, the 36-acre Gateway of Pacific campus is a model for regenerative and sustainable design.⁠
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The campus is organized around a 5.5-acre central park and a series of outdoor rooms and amenity spaces that enrich the work experience by providing opportunities for gathering or strolling through an immersive landscape 🌳⁠
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The center of the campus is anchored by Traverse, a first-class amenity center, which includes a gym, restaurant, bar, and café that spills out on to a gracious deck framed by a sculptural pavilion that provides a range of different seating options.⁠
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Learn more about Gateway of Pacific at www.cmgsite.com/places/gateway-of-pacific
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Images by Caitlin Atkinson

Through a collaborative design process with Cal Academy's leaders, researchers, and gardeners, CMG developed a master plan to expand the museum's east and west gardens. The master planning effort led to our continued involvement with the museum to improve its front step and entryway in 2015 🌳🌴🌷

Today, the entry landscape of mixed shrub and perennial plantings with custom-fabricated benches of stainless steel and ironwood continues to welcome visitors to the museum.
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Learn more about California Academy of Sciences at www.cmgsite.com/places/california-academy-of-sciences

On Tuesday, the Alameda City Council voted to approve De-Pave Park’s final design! The park will feature trails, picnic areas, elevated wildlife observation points, educational gathering spaces, nature play areas, and boulder tide pools—maximizing nature while maintaining people space. ⁠
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De-Pave is noteworthy for its highly sustainable and resilient design approach in recycling 100% of the existing site materials, and transforming a large, paved airstrip into an ecological park that welcomes sea level rise strategies through its community-driven design process.⁠
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Learn more about De-Pave Park final design at www.cmgsite.com/places/depave-park

Mission Creek Stormwater Park has been selected to participate in the Landscape Architecture Foundation's 2024 Case Study Investigation (CSI) program!⁠
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Through CSI, LAF funded faculty-student research teams work with leading design firms to document the impacts of exemplary, high-performing landscape projects. Teams develop methods to quantify the environmental, social, and economic benefits of built projects and produce Case Study Briefs for LAF’s Landscape Performance Series.⁠
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This is a unique opportunity to document and showcase the project, expand capacity to capture performance information, build relationships with academic researchers, and support an unparalleled professional development experience for students. ⁠
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Learn more about the program at www.lafoundation.org/what-we-do/research/case-study-investigation
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Image by Sam Oberter

CMG is honored to be a part of an amazing team working with California Forever to envision and realize a dynamic new community in East Solano County. The San Francisco Bay Area is our home, and we are committed to the continued vibrancy, sustainability, and resilience of the region. ⁠
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In addition to more investment in well-designed infill projects, we believe that compact and walkable new communities with a balance of jobs and middleclass homes, 21st century transit and bicycle infrastructure, great public spaces, parks, and clean energy, should be part of the way forward. ⁠
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Learn more about California Forever and the proposed Initiative Measure at www.californiaforever.com and be sure to check out “The Urbanist Case for New Community in Solano County,” written by California Forever’s Head of Planning, Gabriel Metcalf. ⁠
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Renderings by SITELAB Urban Studio + CMG Landscape Architecture

Civic Center is at the heart of San Francisco's democracy–a vital open space for the city's highest-density neighborhoods and a national historic landmark.⁠
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The Civic Center Public Space Design prioritizes the urban forest in the city's historic district to enhance the connection to nature, ecological value, beauty, and shelter. Four hundred (400) new trees will unify the 16-acre open space, including a double allée extending from Market to welcome people to Civic Center Plaza.⁠
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Green connections seek to connect people with nature, not only by making it easier for people to visit parks and open spaces, but also by encouraging public space that enhances urban ecology with elements such as native landscaping, stormwater plantings, and street trees 🌳

Learn more at www.cmgsite.com/places/civic-center-public-space-design/

The OAAC ADAPT team recently took a field trip to the Oakland and Alameda waterfronts to observe the King Tides and identify issues on the shoreline. ⁠
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On January 11-12, King Tides were expected to be +8.48” (the highest recording was +8.78” in 1983) 🌊⁠
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Learn more about OAAC ADAPT at www.alamedaca.gov/Departments/Planning-Building-and-Transportation/Sustainability-and-Resilience/Oakland-Alameda-Adaptation-Committee
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Images by Maurice Ramirez

The shared public way is a new street typology CMG designed for the City of San Francisco—an innovative curbless pedestrian street. These streetscapes are designed with traffic-calming design measures, special paving, landscaping, street furniture, and pockets of on-street loading to create an environment that prioritizes and encourages pedestrian use. ⁠
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"The Shared Public Way is intended to be a social street that's pedestrian friendly. It's architecture that's inviting people to come and inhabit it at its base." - Kevin Conger, CMG Partner⁠
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Learn more about Treasure Island Parks + Open Space at www.cmgsite.com/places/treasure-island-parks-open-space