NW BATTERY PARK
RESILIENCY PROJECT

Serious flood protection. A waterfront people still love.

The North/West Battery Park City Resiliency Project integrates approximately 1.5 miles of flood protection into a cherished New York waterfront neighborhood. Delivered through Progressive Design-Build by the Turner SPC joint venture, it brings coastal infrastructure into the parks, promenades, and everyday life of Battery Park City.

At BIG, Rachel led landscape and urban design for Reaches 1, 2, 5, and 6, including floodwall design and its integration into the landscape. Collaborators included Arcadis, SCAPE, and One Architecture.

Deep technical coordination with resiliency engineers and the contractor connected landscape design to the realities of building flood protection. Close collaboration with BPCA and stakeholders kept the neighborhood’s character central to those decisions.

An extensive public engagement process brought residents and community groups into the design conversation through public meetings, neighborhood briefings, and ongoing dialogue. From the waterfront’s larger connections to the detail of how a wall meets the ground, the challenge was to protect a much-loved place while preserving what makes it worth protecting.