natural Infrastructure

Natural infrastructure is our nature-powered life support system.  It is nature made visible and functional in all environments.  Natural infrastructure extends from city gardens to rural agricultural lands, urban tree canopy to forest preserves, urban bio-swales to dynamic river systems.  Nature’s working systems—water, air, plants, and soils—support life, promote health, and shape culture.  With communities looking to new ways to partner with nature, engaging nature’s processes in design is at the heart of sustainability.  The vitality of our communities depends on how well we bring together our human and natural systems.     

 

Practice Areas

Parks
Greenways
Community revitalization
Place-based restoration
Rural and wild places

 

 

Vancouver Land Bridge

Vancouver, Washington

The Confluence Project, National Park Service, City of Vancouver, and Washington State Department of Transportation

The Vancouver Land Bridge reconnects historic Fort Vancouver to the City’s Columbia River waterfront, and helps restore the natural landscape continuum from upland prairie to river edge. more

 

 

Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge Conceptual Site Plan

PapahĀnaumokuĀkea Marine National Monument, Hawaii
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

 

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is the world’s largest marine conservation area.  Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge is the gateway to this 1,400 mile-long chain of Pacific islands and atolls northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands—a swath of rare marine habitat larger than all U.S. national parks combined. more

 

 

Washington Parks Sound-Friendly Vision Plan

Des Moines, Belfair, and Coupeville, Washington
Washington State Parks & Recreation Commission

 

Burgeoning development around the Puget Sound has put a strain on the estuary’s ecosystems and habitats.  As part of the Governor’s Puget Sound Initiative, state parks were identified as ideal places to showcase how to care for the Sound. more

 

 

Lake Forest Park Green Infrastructure Plan

Lake Forest Park, Washington
City of Lake Forest Park

 

In May of 2007 Jones & Jones began Washington State’s first "green infrastructure plan." more

 

 

Denver Commons Park

Denver, Colorado
City of Denver, Department of Parks

 

Denver Commons Park is the centerpiece of Denver’s riverfront park system, and a key link in a 10.5-mile river greenway. more

 

 

Cedar Lake Park and Trail

Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

 

This non-motorized commuter parkway and prairie restoration along a converted rail line links residential neighborhoods with the heart of downtown Minneapolis and the Mississippi waterfront. more

 

 

Mercer Slough Nature Park master plan

Bellevue, Washington
City of Bellevue, Department of Parks and Recreation

 

Within view of high-rise office towers, the Mercer Slough Nature Park is home to more than 100 bird species and several dozen mammal species. more

 

 

Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park

Renton, Washington

City of Renton Parks Division

 

This popular legacy waterfront park reclaims a mile-long stretch of industry-degraded shoreline at the south end of Lake Washington for nature and public enjoyment. more

 

 

Newcastle Beach Park

Bellevue, Washington

City of Bellevue Parks and Recreation Department

 

This popular beach park was created on one of the last undeveloped stretches of Bellevue’s Lake Washington shoreline. An elegant and rhythmic design blends public recreation areas within preserved and restored natural shoreline and uplands. more