KLYDE WARREN PARK, Urban Design

Literature study
DALLAS, TX By Suren Mahant 10008
KLYDE WARREN PARK, DALLAS, TX
 ABOUT
Klyde Warren Park serves as a
central gathering place for Dallas
residents and visitors to enjoy in the
heart of the city.

The 5.2-acre park

creates an urban green
space over the existing
8 lane Woodall Rodgers
Freeway between Pearl
and St. Paul Streets in
downtown Dallas
PROJECT TYPE Highway Cap / “Deck Park”
Klyde Warren Park is a ARCHITECTS The Office of James Burnett
vibrant, well-programmed
urban park that acts as a DURATION Opened in 2012. Ten years of
common ground for the planning, design, fundraising, and construction.
surrounding museums and PROJECT FUNDING Total cost of the park:
businesses. $110 million.
The Park includes a
• performance stage,
• restaurant,
• dog park,
• children’s park,
• great lawn for 5000 ppl,
• water features,
• Texas native gardens,
• shaded walking paths,
• an area for games and much more.
Klyde Warren Park is planned to be
a hub of activity with four to five Great lawn
events per day. Programming will be
free and ranges from yoga and boot
camp, to dance classes and chess
tournaments, to movie nights and
outdoor concerts.

Open from 6am to 11pm, daily.

Since its opening, the park has welcomed more

than a million visitors annually and has become
central Dallas’ most popular public open space.

Children’s park
HISTORY Woodall Rodgers Freeway

The concept of building a

deck park over Woodall
Rodgers Freeway may
have originated in the
1960s when Dallas Mayor
J. Erik Jonsson decided to
recess the freeway. Many
years later in 2002, the
idea resurfaced
Construction on the deck
began in October 2009
and the park opened in
October 2012.
 BACKGROUND:

Klyde Warren Park bridged the city’s

downtown cultural district and the
dense mixed-use neighborhoods to the
north.

Built to provide connection between

the two neighborhoods severed by the
Woodall Rodgers Freeway
The park serves as
a cultural and
artistic hub where
locals can gather in
the variety of
pedestrian-oriented
spaces including a
children’s park,
reading room,
great lawn,
restaurant,
performance
pavilion, fountain
plaza, games area,
and dog park.
Klyde Warren Park was
designed to
• provide connection
between the two
neighborhoods severed
by the Woodall
Rodgers Freeway
• attract pedestrian foot-
traffic,
• increase value of
surrounding businesses,
• facilitate connection by
way of vibrant public
space.
• Dampening noise from
the freeway

The walkability of
the city center has
significantly
increased since the
park’s integration
of pedestrian,
streetcar, and
bicycle accessibility.
 DESIGN
The design is meant to create a
sense of discovery as you move
to the different “rooms”
throughout the 5 acre park.

The sustainable landscaping

includes 37 native plant species
and 322 trees, transforming a
former freeway to a beautiful
urban oasis.

The deck is made of more than

300 concrete beams arranged
in groups with spacing in
between the groups. Concrete
slabs span the spaces connecting
to the bottoms of the beams and
forming trenches. The trenches
act like planter boxes, allowing
the trees to grow to the desired
size. A combination of Geofoam
and specially-designed soil
helps keep the deck from being
too heavy.
Concept drawing of the park
Klyde Warren Park
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CHILDREN'S PARK

DALLAS MUSEUM OF
ART INTERACTIVE FOUNTAIN

NEWS READING AND GAMES

ROOM

HARWOOD STREE:r

RESTAURANT

NASH ER
SCULPTURE
CENTER

GRAND PLAZA

CHASE PROMENADE

MUSEUM
TOWER

BEST FRIEND'S PAR THE COMMONS

(DOG PARK)

ut>l to uw
View of Jane’s lane
(shaded walk way)
Children’s park
Restaurant
My Best
friend’s
park

Botanical
garden
 Hart Boulevard

Performance stage
in great lawn
 SUSTAINABILITY BENEFITS
Economic BENEFITS
Created 8 full-time and 5
part-time positions in
maintenance and operations,
in addition to the
approximately 170
temporary jobs that were
created during design and
construction.
The park stimulated adjacent
real estate development and
increased tax revenue. Impact
studies project $312.7 million
in economic benefit and
$12.7 million in direct tax
revenue. Adjacent commercial
rents have increased 32%.
Social BENEFITS
The park has contributed
significantly to the local social
environment;
90.9% of park users
surveyed responded that their
quality of life was
significantly improved by the
addition of the park.
The park has come to be
known as a must-see for a
visitor to Dallas
Environmental BENEFITS
The park has made significant
local environmental benefits.
The addition captures 18,500
lbs. of carbon dioxide by way
of planted trees and reduces
stormwater drainage by
64,214 gallons annually.
LEED Gold-certified
the park saves approximately
94,000 kilowatts of electricity
each year.
Reduced summer
temperatures in the park by
1-9°F compared to the
average temperature for the
park’s zip cod
QUESTION
What was the main objective of creating Klyde Warren Park?
ANSWER
To bridge the city’s downtown cultural district and the dense mixed-use
neighborhoods to the north and provide connection between the two
neighborhoods
QUESTION
What type of project is Klyde warren park?
ANSWER
Highway Cap / “Deck Park”
QUESTION
What is the concept behind the design of the park?
ANSWER
The park is designed as a series of outdoor rooms that are
continuously changing
THANK YOU