Olmsted Walk Design Guidelines

Olmsted Walk Design Guidelines support and expand upon direction set forth in the Smithsonian's National Zoo's Comprehensive Master Plan.  The scope focuses on Olmsted Walk, the central civic space and primary circulation spine in the National Zoo's 163 acre site.  The Guidelines set a vision for the overall aesthetic and visual unity of the promenade.  The document identifies priorities and recommendations for modifications and improvements to the Walk and guides staff and consultants engaging in projects with the National Zoo for maintenance, programming and design services. The document sets out critical components, permanent and temporal, which shape the path and ultimately define the Zoo's design language responding to a high performing landscape in an urban context that must handle at times 30,000 visitors in one day and operates 364 days a year with a total of 2.6 million visitors annually.

Over the course of multiple years, I lead a series of in depth discussions with a team of Zoo staff representing operations, interpretive exhibits and wayfinding, horticulture, animal care science, communications, park management.