It only takes approximately one inch of rain to send stormwater outfall into the Hudson River causing Hoboken to flood. The City therefore invested in citywide resiliency infrastructure including the newly completed ResilienCity Park, which sits on a former brownfield site in a post-industrial neighborhood. Below-grade stormwater detention tanks capture one million gallons of rainwater, while bioswales and soft matter absorb another 750,000 gallons of rainwater above ground.

ResilienCity Park is now Hoboken’s largest public park and community destination. Our pavilion anchors the terrace at the park’s highest point, offering panoramic views of the neighborhood and Palisades Park beyond, as well as framing important sightlines from the neighborhood into the park. Designed as an armature for park life, an oversized canopy shelters two volumes below. These rough-hewn, granite-clad volumes—housing a flexible community room and a café space—together create a portal into the park. Multiple paths that interconnect the recreational, cultural, and natural areas flow through the portal as an extension of park life into the pavilion.

A perforated, corrugated steel canopy provides both shade and luminosity – its effect oscillating with the changing light and orientation. Amenities, such as an outdoor movie screen, are incorporated and hung from the canopy. Climbing plants cover select columns creating surreal ‘Dr. Seuss trees’ that connect the pavilion structure to the overall landscape design.

Client: City of Hoboken
Location: Hoboken, NJ
Status: Completed
Dates: 2017 – 2024
Sq Footage: 10,000sf
Program: Public park pavilion: community room, library annex / cafe, outdoor cinema, restrooms and shaded outdoor space
Environmental: Flood resiliency measures

Design Team: Eric Bunge, Mimi Hoang | Jason Kim, David Chessrown, Thomas Heltzel, | Eugenie Bliah, Laura Buck, David Mora, Matthew Sikora | Michelle Lin, Sarah Bernard, Joric Barber

Collaborators: Project Lead: E&LP | Landscape/Civil Engineer: OLIN | Structural Engineer: Silman | MEP Engineer: OLA Consulting Engineers | Lighting Designer: Lumen Architecture, PLLC