Linda Beach Park is a beloved neighborhood park, playground, and athletic field in Piedmont, California. It's always been a beautiful place, but with a complex program and dated equipment, Linda Beach was struggling to serve its wide range of users, which includes everyone from pickleball players to pre-K kids. Groundworks Office re-envisioned this local institution as a more inclusive and adaptive open space with clever installations and flexible designs that optimize the available space. But before we could do that, we had to navigate the conflicting desires of those diverse users.
We began with a robust community participation process, holding multiple meetings with stakeholders, city staff, and—critically—community and neighborhood groups. Everyone had a voice in defining the park's future. Through outreach, design exercises, and mediation, we were able to get everyone on the same page. The resulting phased landscape master plan fulfills the needs of the entire community.
Representing a collective vision, our plan meets present needs while planning for the future and via a versatile multi-sport ocurts and a new multi-purpose community building. Phase one calls for the transformation of an unused paved lot and dirt patch beneath the Oakland Avenue bridge into a lively and diverse playspace featuring a skatepark, picnic areas, and playground for all ages and abilities — as well as "stadium-style” seating that creates new views onto the adjacent courts. The colorful California playscape inspires imagination while celebrating the site's ecology and topography with native plantings.