11th Street Bridge Park

After a seven-month nationwide competition, the design for Washington, DC’s 11th Street Bridge Park by OMA + OLIN was unanimously selected by the competition jury. The design team was asked to transform an aged-out freeway bridge into a one of a kind new civic space over the Anacostia River.

The team’s design concept connects two historically disparate sides of the Anacostia River with a series of outdoor programmed spaces and active zones, including two sloped ramps that elevate visitors to maximized lookout points to landmarks in either direction. Each ramp terminates in a waterfall that reconnects the ramps to the river below. On the east side, the waterfall is linked to an active filtration system that in conjunction with new wetland areas adjacent to the bridge piers works to actively clear the river. To encourage visitors to the bridge and neighboring communities, the design includes amenities for comfort and refreshment and an open plaza for markets, festivals, and theatrical performances. The form of the bridge creates an iconic encounter, an “X” instantly recognizable as the river’s new image.

Hallie Boyce, OLIN’s Partner and design lead on the project commented, “The 11th Street Bridge Park project is an incredible opportunity to contribute to the civic fabric of Washington, D.C. through the design of an iconic, multi-functional landscape which promotes the health of the river and its adjacent communities acting as a model both nationally and globally.” Hallie was supported at OLIN by Partner and Director of Research Skip Graffam, Associate Les Bishop, Landscape Architect and Competition Manager Ryan Buckley, Landscape Designer Joey Hays, Landscape Designer Nich Steinkraus, Intern Kayla Oldham, Visualizers Chris Landau and Henry Moll, and Senior Landscape Architect Ari Miller.