From Parking Lot to Park: JBC's Role in West End Square’s Transformation

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IMAGE COURTESY OF JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS

West End Square is a transformative urban park developed by the Downtown Dallas Parks Conservancy and designed by James Corner Field Operations, with JBC serving as a key subconsultant for irrigation, soils, and subdrainage design. Formerly a surface parking lot, the site is now the only neighborhood park in Dallas’s West End Historic District—an inviting green space nestled within a dense urban fabric. The park was envisioned as a much-needed oasis in the heart of the city, blending technology, sustainability, and thoughtful design.

IMAGE COURTESY OF JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS

JBC played a vital role in ensuring the long-term success of the landscape by developing soil systems and irrigation strategies suited to the challenges of an intense urban environment. The compact site presented significant design and construction constraints, with dense utility networks, limited subsurface depth, and a nearly flat grade. To overcome these obstacles, JBC crafted a soil design that maximized root volume under paved surfaces while carefully avoiding underground utilities. The team also designed a subdrainage system with precise grading to ensure reliable flow to existing storm infrastructure, despite the minimal slope available.

IMAGE COURTESY OF JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS

One of the most critical successes of the project was the inclusion of a robust irrigation system—an often-overlooked feature in public spaces. Given Dallas’s hot, dry climate and the added heat stress of the urban context, this investment was essential to supporting a thriving landscape. JBC’s irrigation design ensures that the diverse plantings and urban canopy have the water they need to grow and endure.

IMAGE COURTESY OF JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS

West End Square is now a welcoming public space that serves the surrounding neighborhood and downtown Dallas community. The completed park offers much-needed green space, seating, and shade in the West End Historic District, supporting both daily use and programmed activities. It reflects the successful coordination of design and engineering in a complex urban setting.

IMAGES COURTESY OF JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS

Sustainable Solutions for a Historic Landscape: The Farrand House Project at Dumbarton Oaks

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IMAGE COURTESY OF REED HILDERBRAND

At the Dumbarton Oaks Farrand House project in Washington, D.C., JBC collaborated closely with Reed Hilderbrand and Selldorf Architects to provide integrated design for irrigation, soils, and subdrainage systems. This work supported the renovation of the historic greenhouse area and its transformation into an educational outreach center. JBC’s role was foundational in ensuring the site’s landscape systems functioned sustainably and efficiently, both above and below ground.

IMAGE COURTESY OF REED HILDERBRAND

Given the property’s historic significance, JBC employed low-impact strategies that met modern performance standards while respecting the legacy of the historic site. One of the key challenges was the limited water pressure available for irrigation. JBC responded with a carefully calibrated system using low-volume, low-pressure-rated equipment to provide adequate coverage without overtaxing the infrastructure. The team also worked within an exceptionally tight footprint, where space for utilities, planting, and circulation was at a premium.

IMAGE COURTESY OF REED HILDERBRAND

JBC’s soil and subdrainage solutions were designed to optimize fertility and drainage, promoting long-term health and resilience of the landscape. One of the most significant accomplishments was fitting substantial soil volumes into the constrained entry walkway to support growth of new overstory trees. This attention to detail and technical precision will have a lasting impact on the overall health of the landscape and visitor experience of the site.

IMAGE COURTESY OF REED HILDERBRAND

By integrating green infrastructure into a complex historic setting, JBC helped shape a landscape that is as sustainable as it is functional. The result supports the Dumbarton Oaks mission of education and stewardship by enhancing the landscape while establishing new spaces for learning, art, and innovation.

How Harwood Park Brings Green Space and Stormwater Solutions to the East Quarter

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Nestled in the heart of downtown Dallas, Harwood Park reclaims nearly four acres of the city’s East Quarter with a dynamic blend of green infrastructure, public gathering spaces, and custom-designed play areas. JBC supported Ten Eyck Landscape Architects as a subconsultant on this transformative urban park, providing specialized soils and irrigation design services.

IMAGE COURTESY OF TEN EYCK LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

The park features an expansive children’s playground, two dog parks, a flexible lawn for events, and a variety of ornamental planting spaces—all thoughtfully arranged to offer both grand public areas and quieter, more intimate corners. Running through the center of the park is a green infrastructure corridor designed to manage stormwater from the surrounding hardscape, showcasing sustainable design in action.

IMAGE COURTESY OF TEN EYCK LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

JBC’s contributions included the design and integration of high-performance soils and irrigation systems throughout the site. Extensive use of soil cells in both street tree plantings and interior park spaces supported healthy root development in an otherwise challenging urban environment. Permanent irrigation systems were carefully tailored for long-term maintenance and plant vitality.

IMAGE COURTESY OF TEN EYCK LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

The project also integrated reclaimed architectural materials from former on-site buildings, honoring the area’s history while enhancing its contemporary character.

IMAGES COURTESY OF TEN EYCK LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

With a complex, phased construction timeline and a confined downtown footprint, Harwood Park required close coordination and flexibility from all team members. JBC’s technical expertise helped ensure that the park's trees, plants, and green infrastructure will thrive for years to come.

Longwood Reimagined: JBC's Role in Designing Custom Soil Profiles

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The Longwood Reimagined project represents an exciting new chapter in the evolution of one of America’s most celebrated public gardens. As part of the design team led by Reed Hilderbrand, JBC was tasked with soils design for both the interior conservatory and the surrounding exterior landscapes. Our work focused on crafting specialized soil profiles to support a wide variety of planting environments ranging from curated garden beds and a native meadow to areas of high-performance turf.

JBC’s scope included both technical design and collaborative consultation, ensuring the selected soils would meet the horticultural needs of the site while also aligning with the aesthetic and ecological vision of the project. Each soil blend was carefully designed to optimize plant health, support biodiversity, and perform well under Longwood's maintenance schedule. This attention to detail was critical, especially in the conservatory, where plantings required an entirely custom mix to thrive in the interior climate conditions.

What truly set this project apart was the collaboration between JBC, Reed Hilderbrand, and Longwood Gardens’ own horticulture department. Known for its top-tier staff and resources, the Longwood team brought deep institutional knowledge to the table, resulting in a dynamic partnership and a cooperative atmosphere. For JBC, it marked the first time we partnered directly with a horticulture department, resulting in an exciting and rewarding experience that expanded the scope of our expertise.

To highlight the transformation, we’re sharing a series of before-and-after images, comparing construction progress in 2023 with the completed gardens in 2025. These visuals showcase the dramatic impact of the project, both indoors and out.

Opened to the public in late 2024, Longwood Reimagined offers visitors an immersive experience that pairs world-class design with horticultural excellence. From the expansive meadow views to the lush plantings within the conservatory, every element has been carefully engineered to flourish, both above and below the surface. JBC is proud to have played a role in shaping this iconic transformation.

Collaboration in Design: JBC’s Role in WashU’s East End Transformation

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JBC played a key technical role in the East End Transformation of Washington University’s Danforth Campus, resulting in an ambitious redevelopment that replaced six acres of surface parking with a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly landscape. This transformative project introduced five new campus buildings, a below-grade parking garage, and a thoughtfully designed public realm that now welcomes visitors with green space, gathering areas, circulation paths, and a sense of arrival onto campus.

JBC collaborated closely with Michael Vergason Landscape Architects, Arbolope Studio, and KieranTimberlake to design and coordinate site-wide irrigation, landscape subdrainage, and engineered soil systems. The complexity of the project required precision as irrigation and soils transitioned across five new buildings and over an underground garage, where soil weights and structural profiles had to be carefully managed. The JBC team successfully navigated a broad spectrum of soil conditions, supply-related material changes, integration with existing irrigation systems, and turf fire lanes, all while preserving the integrity of the landscape design.

The result is a lush and inviting landscape that has redefined the eastern edge of the WashU campus. With strong early performance from the plantings, including rapid growth of smaller-caliper trees, this new campus entry is already thriving. “The transformation at the East End is a project I always look forward to visiting,” said Spencer Sneller, Senior Project Manager at JBC. “WashU is a beautiful campus, and MVLA’s planting design continues to evolve and mature.”

Revitalizing City Ridge in Washington, D.C.: JBC's Expertise in Green Infrastructure at Work

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Located in Washington, D.C., City Ridge reimagines the historic Fannie Mae headquarters, transforming it into a dynamic, mixed-use development. With a thoughtful blend of preserved architecture and modern design, the development spans more than nine acres of vibrant green roofs, terraces, and public spaces, all integrated above a network of underground parking and complex infrastructure.

JBC played a key role in bringing City Ridge's landscape vision to life. Our team provided comprehensive site-wide design services for irrigation, soils, and drainage, supporting everything from structural soils beneath paved surfaces to the complex needs of elevated green roof environments.

The scope was as diverse as the site itself. We managed soil specifications across multiple types of soils, including structural, planting, turf, green roof, and bioretention, along with custom blends for street trees and heritage plantings. Working in close collaboration with Michael Vergason Landscape Architects, ParkerRodriguez, and Shalom Baranes Associates, as well as structural, civil, and MEP engineers, we ensured every design detail was aligned to support both aesthetics and long-term plant health.

Coordinating across nine distinct buildings with varying site conditions, JBC approached the challenge of irrigation layout, stub-out locations, and conduit routing with precision.

Across the project, our integrated approach resulted in a resilient and cohesive landscape system that not only meets rigorous performance standards but also enhances the design and overall experience of this urban space.