Project Description

Traveling into Boston on the elevated section of Interstate 93, a small pop of green is visible among the swath of industry in Charlestown’s Hood Park. Designed by Offshoots, Inc., in conjunction with Elkus Manfredi Architects, that green dot is known as Hood Bike Park.

The sloping, 22,000-square-foot space, which received a 2022 BSLA Design Award, anticipates the changes coming to the Boston neighborhood and aims to be an amenity hub for cyclists and local families and a catalyst for more green space.

Kate Kennen, ASLA, knows the park site particularly well. A one-time resident of Charlestown and an expert in phytoremediation, Kennen founded her horticulture-focused practice, Offshoots, in 2012.

Because the site’s past life meant that it was heavily contaminated, one of the design priorities was to create buffer zones to capture and mitigate airborne and groundwater contaminants. The park features three buffers: a groundwater system composed of water-seeking shrubs, an air pollution buffer composed of native trees, and a bioswale inspired by shoreline vegetation.