Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects (NBW) is an internationally recognized landscape architecture firm of 47 people with studios in Charlottesville, Virginia, New York City, and Houston, Texas. NBW has garnered over 100 awards over the past Ten years and is often featured in numerous publications. The firm is dedicated to aesthetic and environmental excellence, social justice, and innovation as it designs major public landscapes across the United States and abroad, placing years of experience and innovation in greater service to the public realm. The NBW design process is rooted in deep listening and research to reveal the various cultural and ecological forces that have shaped the identity of a site.
Software Used: Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Rhino, Lumion, AutoCAD, Sketchup

Kinder Land Bridge and Cyvia & Melvyn Wolff Prairie at Memorial Park, Houston, TX

A: The Kinder Land Bridge and Cyvia & Melvyn Wolff Prairie is found at the heart of Memorial Park, spanning the area's most divisive feature: Memorial Drive. The nearly 100-acre project reunites the park's north and south sides. Native prairie and savannah ecologies as well as a multi-use trail network span the highway, allowing park users to enjoy the Houston skyline and safely cross the highway. The prairie restoration re-introduces endangered native species and adds additional wetlands.
With a diverse mix of grasses and forbs, the expanded prairie complex provides year-found dynamic visual interest as well as essential habitats.

 

Machicomoco Park,
Gloucester County, Virginia

B: NBW oversaw the design and construction for Machicomoco, a new state park in Gloucester County, Virginia. The site is richly layered historically and ecologically - an embodied index of many quintessential Virginia landscapes: agriculture, maritime forest, marsh, uplands, wetlands, and estuarine habitat. Starting with the master plan and continuing through a detailed design process, NBW designers engaged with Virginia Algonquian tribal members, citizens, archeologists, and experts to create a landscape that reveals and explores a first people's geography and cosmology. The design honors and expresses the deep Algonquian roots connecting the general public to this captivating history. Recreational and educational opportunities for the surrounding communities and park visitors are programmed around revealing the Algonquian landscape throughout the park in unexpected ways.

Flight 93 National Memorial,
Shanksville, Pennsylvania

C: The Flight 93 Advisory Commission selected the design proposal by Paul Murdoch Architects and NBW from 1,100 entries in September 2005. The design transforms the landscape to a place of healing - both from environmental damage caused by coal mining and to honor the crew and passengers of United Flight 93 who sacrificed their lives on September 11th, 2001. The centerpiece is the Field of Honor and an all?(C)e of Red Sunset maple trees (Acer rubrum) backed by 40 groves, one for each victim of the crash. A circular walkway around the Bowl brings visitors to an overlook of the Sacred Ground where the plane came to rest. The fields leading to the Sacred Ground are planted with native meadow grasses and wildflowers species. Black granite pavement on axis with the flight path creates a ceremonial entry. At the western end of the curving landform, a portal provides a place of contemplation, defined by walls that frame the axis of the flight path to the crash site. Further phases have added the Tower of Voices, an open pillar holding 40 wind chimes whose sounds evoke the memories of those who are honored.

Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee

D: NBW is leading the design and implementation of the Gustafson Guthrie Nichol master plan for Centennial Park. Phase One included the daylighting of Cockrill Spring and the installation of wetlands and a fountain. The team created a dredge regime for badly needed improvements affecting the lake's water quality. Other improvements include redesigning pedestrian and vehicular circulation, consolidating parking, and creating new gardens and meadows as well as a permanent performance venue for Musician's Corner. Recently completed Phase Two projects include a multi-species all?(C)e comprised of Middle-Tennessee native species, including Hickory and Oak. The all?(C)e creates bird and pollinator habitat and will be more resilient than a single-species all?(C)e. As the impacts of traffic and parking on the landscape are lessened, the park is experiencing an increase in pedestrian and bike traffic.

The Ramble, Fayetteville, Arkansas

E: NBW worked collaboratively with the city of Fayetteville in leading the design of The Ramble - a transformative project stitching together 12 acres of the city's core cultural, entertainment, and commercial assets with the 36-mile Razorback Greenway, adjacent neighborhoods, and headwaters of the Beaver Lake Watershed. The Ramble will enhance the city's appeal as an outdoor destination with bike and multi-use trails, parks, woodlands, boardwalks, terraced creeks, and spaces for art installations, music performances, and other events. Interwoven outdoor spaces were purposefully designed around flagship arts and cultural establishments to revitalize Fayetteville's downtown. The lower half of the area, called Lower Ramble, has now been named the first certified sustainable SITES project in the state of Arkansas.