Binney Park is one of three new parks in a rapidly redeveloping part of Cambridge, close to residential neighborhoods, and which lacks access to open space. The design for these parks began with a collaborative programming stage, where Stoss worked with the City and neighbors across all three sites to study program and design options that would work as complementary parts.

Binney Park is specifically designed as a neighborhood gathering spot for dogs and people, and as a lunch place or green respite for nearby workers and visitors. The site sits along active rail tracks, Binney’s extension of the Grand Junction Trail establishes bicyclist and pedestrian connections to the regional trail network, as well as safe access to the neighborhood’s other open spaces, such as Triangle Park Urban Forest, also designed by Stoss.

At the surface, Binney Park connects nearby workers, residents, and dog owners through the blending of a playful fenced in dog area and intimate gathering spaces with a variety of enclosure, creating a more cohesive space and increased opportunity for social connections between people and dogs (whether one is a dog owner or not), and between people and people. At each of the dog park entrances, social gathering spaces are framed around a variety of customized wood benches, including high-backed benches for a greater of enclosure and screening of roadway traffic, and a custom wood terrace that sits below the mature cottonwood tree. Inside the dog park, four mature trees cast shade on the synthetic turf and painted logs for dogs to scramble or owners to rest. The synthetic turf provides ease of maintenance for the City, while additionally allowing for quick percolation of stormwater.

Below grade, the park addresses the site’s historic urban soils and provides stormwater management exceeding regulatory standards. In collaboration with Nitsch Engineering, a combination of best management practices have been developed for a sustainable stormwater management system through a combination of porous asphalt along the multi-use trail, a series of rain gardens to collect stormwater runoff, and underground detention system to clean and slow down the flow of water leaving the site.

client

City of Cambridge

location

Cambridge, MA

TEAM

Stoss
Nitsch Engineering
HLB Lighting
Pine & Swallow Associates
SGH