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Two Sasaki projects honored at the 2023 BSLA Design Awards

Every year, the Boston Society of Landscape Architects (BSLA) Design Awards seeks to recognize excellence in the diverse practices of landscape architecture. For their 2023 Awards program, we are honored to announce that 2 Sasaki projects were selected as winners: Changhun Middle Mountain Landscape received an Honor Award in the Analysis & Planning category, and The Bay: “One Park for All” in Sarasota received a Merit Award in the General Design category.

Changchun Middle Mountain Landscape

A recipient of the Honor Award in the Analysis and Planning category, The Changchun Middle Mountain Framework Plan aims to create a carbon-conscious plan that balances socio-economic development with ecological restoration in Changchun, China. With over 40% of the urban area protected as parks and nature reserves, the project’s overarching goal is to utilize landscape restoration as a foundation to connect fragmented land use zones caused by urban development and mining activities, while protecting core habitats. The framework strives to preserve significant and contiguous patches of existing tree canopy as priority areas for habitat conservation, species movement, and enhanced ecosystem services, like carbon sequestration. 

The framework plan considered the carbon impact of the proposed design interventions, and includes a new mode of public transit that resonates with Changchun’s identity as a “city of trams” while allowing transfers from other public transit systems, enhancing accessibility and further reducing carbon emissions. The project also includes village revitalization strategies, the rehabilitation of former quarry sites, and a bicycle network that extends the city’s greenway system.

The Bay: “One For All” in Sarasota

Receiving a Merit Award for General Design, Phase 1 of the Sarasota Bayfront Park is the first step in transforming a 53-acre, city-owned site on the stunning “Cultural Coast” of Florida into a more inclusive and welcoming community waterfront destination. Design lead Agency Landscape + Planning, with Sasaki as the master plan prime consultant and civil engineering and permitting consultant, designed Phase 1 as a model for what future phases of the park could accomplish. Bioswales that restore adjacent mangroves, baffle boxes providing treatment for dozens of acres of off-site urban runoff, and a drainage network that utilizes green infrastructure for water quality treatment are among the many progressive stormwater practices designed by Sasaki in Phase 1. 

Submissions to the 2023 BSLA Design Awards program were reviewed for innovation and creativity in approach, environmental sensitivity, and sustainability, as well as demonstration of design value provided to the client, the public, and to the profession of landscape architecture as a whole. We are honored to be recognized alongside all the other incredible design work submitted this year. Congratulations to the Sasaki design teams for these incredible recognitions!

Visit the BSLA 2023 Design Awards website to see the other 2023 honorees.

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