Elevating the Pedestrian Experience: Building Common Ground at 10 World Trade

At the heart of the landscape design was the experience on the ground. Rather than design a building that maximizes the lot, the team led with an integrated approach, considering the landscape alongside the architecture. This created more than two acres of open space that brings the public realm up, into, and through the building.

Site Context and Challenges

Located in Boston’s Seaport neighborhood, 10 World Trade sits at multiple crossroads: the multi-story intersection of Congress Street and World Trade Center Avenue; the gap between the lower Seaport and the Summer Street corridor; the crossing of pedestrian and interstate traffic; the coming together of multiple modes of transportation. The most important crossroads, however, was the juncture between the public realm and the commercial world.

The project unified two uniquely shaped parcels separated by active freeway ramps. Recognizing the project’s unique challenges, including a significant grade change and the need for seamless integration with the building, Sasaki’s landscape architects embraced the opportunity to craft a distinctive sense of place, thoughtfully transforming these complexities into a cohesive and inviting landscape experience.

Design Approach and Solutions

The building is designed to create a fifth facade by lifting up off the ground floor so that the public realm can flow around and through the building. The project is meant to be permeable, safe, accessible, and connective, open to all—even on weekends or evenings when the building may not be occupied. 

To maintain an uninterrupted user experience, the neighboring triangular open space is gradually elevated until it meets the upper level of World Trade Center Avenue, connecting over I-90 through an integrated land bridge. This land bridge is a defining feature, uniting two uniquely shaped parcels separated by active freeway ramps. 

Bridging the Gap through Collaboration

The design required close collaboration between landscape architects, architects, and engineers to create a structure that supports both public activity and an ecologically rich habitat above an active interstate. Soil depths were strategically varied—deeper zones for trees and screening, lighter engineered soils for meadows and groundcovers—ensuring robust plant growth while maintaining structural efficiency.

This integration of structure and landscape creates a cohesive pedestrian experience, while the diverse planting palette establishes a new precedent for green infrastructure in complex urban settings. The design team maximized usable green space, creating an environment distinct from the predominantly hardscaped surroundings.

The designers balanced the interplay between hard and softscape to create a sense of escape from the loud urban context. The planting strategy was intentionally designed to mitigate the impact of the wind and help screen out residential buildings and roadways.

The Visitor Experience

Visitor experience unfolds along a fluid gradient within the triangular open space. There are moments designed for pause and escape from the city’s bustle, while other areas offer visual connections to neighboring landmarks such as the World Trade Center and the Convention Center. 

Distinctive plantings introduce a sense of scale and lushness that sets this space apart from other green areas in the Seaport. The landscape is embraced on all sides by a screen that echoes the architectural details of the building, tying together landscape and structure. Within this frame, a rich, textured planting palette softens the environment and creates a striking contrast to the surrounding streetscape. The result is a space that feels immersive and protected within the urban fabric.

The Planting Strategy

The plantings used throughout the site are inspired by natural New England landscapes, with varieties of native species playing different roles. Within the open space, the plantings progress to move from a sense of openness to shelter. 

As the path zigzags upward, coastal meadow species such as Red Fescue, Switchgrass ‘North Wind’, and Coastal Meadow Mix establish a resilient, salt-tolerant ground layer. Once the elevation rises, these meadows blend into coastal shrub zones featuring Northern Bayberry, a classic New England coastal shrub known for its adaptability to sandy soils. Moving further upward, the planting palette shifts to upland meadow species, including Blue Star, Seaside Goldenrod, and the Upland Meadow Mix, all well-suited to drier, upland conditions.

The upland forest, with taller tree plantings, screens out wind and noise from the surrounding urban context. Around the building and on the sidewalks, shade garden plantings like Red Maple and Sweetbay Magnolia will offer shade in the summer. This is complemented by other seasonal plantings, like Winterberry and Witch Hazel for winter and Allium and Muscari for spring, that will ensure a sense of place within the landscape all year round.

A Public Realm for All

Through this thoughtful integration of architecture and landscape design, 10 World Trade demonstrates how prioritizing the public realm can create meaningful urban spaces that serve both building occupants and the broader community alike. Designed to be a welcoming space year-round, it offers a new space in Boston’s Seaport to gather, relax, or simply pass through.