Photo by Jim Tetro

Park amenities include a rain garden, pavilions, an ice-skating rink and a cafe.

The team transformed a parking lot for Washington D.C. school buses on the Anacostia Waterfront into a three-acre park that offers aboveground recreational amenities and a belowground stormwater sewer system. Runoff from seven city blocks is diverted to the system, which includes two underground 40,000-gallon cisterns; tree pits also collect runoff. The reused water provides nearly 95% of the park's needs, saving an estimated 1.5 million gallons of potable water annually. Park amenities include a rain garden, pavilions, an ice-skating rink and a cafe—as well as interactive water fountains and interactive sculptures.

Project Team

Owner: Canal Park Development Association; Housing Authority of the District of Columbia

Architect: Studios Architecture

General Contractor: James G. Davis Construction Corp., Rockville, Md.

Engineers: Loring; Vika, Germantown, Md.

Landscape Architect: The Olin Studio, Philadelphia