Central SOMA Park

Landscape Architecture, Visualization

The intent of the design is to create a signature park for an open space-starved community in Central SoMA. Based on the community’s ardent desire for a safe and green park, TLS proposes a park composed of native vegetation and natural elements that would be found in a Northern California Forest.

TLS’s “Forest Floor” concept directly draws from regional forests and the site’s history as a lumber yard by using reclaimed wood paving, the planting of large specimen native trees, and a diverse forest understory planting in the more building-shaded areas. The goal is to support biodiversity and access to nature through generous planning and a series of nature play elements to encourage family-oriented uses throughout.

Client: TLS Landscape Architecture
Role: Visualization, Schematic Design
Location: San Francisco, USA
Date: February 2018
Team: TLS Landscape Architecture (Landscape Design), Micheal Maltzan Architects (Lead Architect), Tishman Spier (Developer)

Official Website

Art / Market Plaza

The park strikes a balance between the flexibility to host large open events, such as an art market or food market, and the creation of intimate spaces that envelop park users into the canopy.

Natural Play

Cafe Terrace

Rendered Plan

Rendered Plan with Tree Canopy

BOULDER WALK

The centerpiece of the forest floor concept is a reclaimed-lumber plaza surrounded by lush, riparian undergrowth. The plaza invites active play and community interaction through natural elements like stripped logs and a stone-carved firepit. An enormous boulder, fresh from the woods and dripping with moss, lichen and rivulets of water, transports you from the urban environment into the fog-hidden sunbursts of the California forest.