Inside/Out | AUG18: HOOD PARK, CHARLESTOWN. Gravel to Green.

Join us outside as we explore Hood Park and learn about how landscape architecture projects and planning are turning this site from gravel to green.

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Charlestown’s Hood Park -- a former freight depot, industrial landmark, and Hood Milk dairy plant -- is in the midst of an extensive 21st Century evolution. With 50+ acres of underutilized industrial land, the site has been tabbed by planners and developers as Boston’s next major mixed-use hub.

While the Hood redevelopment will accomplish many things, its priorities and initial steps have been landscape led. Open space projects have preceded larger development. Nestled between two major automobile corridors, this new landscape architecture works to improve the quality of the site’s challenging environmental context: substandard air quality, majority impervious surface, and the least amount of open space per acre in Boston. By promoting clean commuting, green design, and low-emission building from the start, Hood Park is setting a new standard for large scale design in Charlestown -- and beyond.

Scroll down for more details on the projects we will visit....

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Say hi to old friends and meet someone new.

Tickets are free. Tour size will be kept small for health and quality of experience. Please come dressed for the weather, with comfortable shoes, sunscreen, and water (as you like), prepared to walk. We look forward to exploring with you!

We look forward to seeing you outside.

Charlestown’s Hood Park, initially a mill pond that was later converted into a freight depot, is on the cusp of a 21st century evolution — from an industrial landmark to an attractive urban destination.

Led by

Andrew Elliot (ASLA, Senior Landscape Architect, SMMA)

The Pond landscape at 500 Main Street is home to Hood Park’s main water features. Its design features a 4,000 square foot reflection pool outfitted with a substantial runoff collection system, a host of aquatic plantings and a robust bubbler network, which gives the pool year-round operational capabilities. The surrounding landscape also includes a series of more accessible and playful water features for people to interact with. Inspiration for the Pond’s aquatic programming was drawn from its past, where the site was once home to a large millpond. This SMMA led design represents a piece of Hood Park’s larger sustainability strategy and shows the development’s commitment to resilient practice.

Led by

Andrew Elliot (ASLA, Senior Landscape Architect, SMMA)

Recently completed as a part of the 50 Hood Park Drive development, The Harvey Roof serves as a focal point for the new residential building. Its 12,000 square feet of rooftop includes over 8,000 native plants, community vegetable gardens, sitting areas, grills, and a large FSC-certified wooden deck. The 50 Hood and Harvey Roof projects, designed by the SMMA landscape architecture team, achieved LEED platinum certification, the system’s highest rating, and contribute heavily to Charlestown’s continued sustainability goals.

Led by

Andrew Elliot (ASLA, Senior Landscape Architect, SMMA)

A part of the Hood Park Master Plan, Hood Bike Park was imagined and crafted to be a catalyst for productive change in Charlestown. Spurring the redevelopment of 50+ acres of underutilized industrial land in the area, this once bare site now hosts a 22,000 square foot facility that provides the neighborhood with green space, sheltered bike parking, repair services, and a sustainable working landscape. The Park opened in 2021. The landscape architects were Charlestown-based Offshoots, Inc. Its presence sets the foundation for a future of green commuting, native planting, and resilient infrastructure implementation in the area.

The multifunctional topography helps to block views of the elevated highway to the west, raises the entire site above the anticipated coastal base flood elevation in 2100, and caps industrial soils in situ. The plant communities are not only designed with three different phytoremediation typologies, but also to be low-maintenance, mimic native ecosystems, provide habitat, mitigate urban heat-island effect, withstand urban environment stressors, and enhance the experience of the site. A variety of green stormwater infrastructure technologies are deployed throughout the site to address current conditions and anticipated future development, too.

Led by

Kate Kennan (ASLA, Owner, Offshoots Inc.)

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Terry Kinsler ( Senior Associate, Offshoots Inc.)

ABOUT INSIDE/OUT:

Organized by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects, "Inside/Out" is an ongoing series of small group, outdoor, on-site walking tours of landscape architecture throughout our region. Tours are led by landscape architects, designers, planners, municipal leaders, activists, developers, builders, and more and highlight landscape ideas and implementation revolving around issues including climate resilience, health, and equity.

Click here watch a brief video about the whole Inside/Out series taking place in locations across Massachusetts and Maine.

Organized by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects, "Inside/Out" is an ongoing series of small group, outdoor, on-site walking tours of landscape architecture throughout our region. Tours are led by landscape architects, designers, planners, municipal leaders, activists, developers, builders, and more and highlight landscape ideas and implementation revolving around issues including climate resilience, health, and equity.

Images, title down:

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Harvey, 50 Hood Park Drive, Boston, United States