A NEW URBAN TERRACE

Transforming an underused gateway landscape into a public gathering place

A New Urban Terrace is a conceptual design proposal for reimagining the landscape around the Gateway Pedestrian Bridge and Trail in College Park, Georgia. Located between a major roadway, parking areas, and existing green space, the site has the potential to become more than a passageway. It can become a memorable civic terrace where movement, landscape, art, and community life come together.

Existing conditions aerial image. Source: Google Earth; imagery © 2026 Airbus

Instead of treating the area as leftover roadside landscape, this proposal introduces an active urban terrace framed by pollinator planting, shaded seating, sculptural landscape elements, and a refreshed pedestrian experience. The design creates a welcoming transition between the bridge, trail, parking areas, and surrounding public spaces.

The terrace is envisioned as a place where people can pause, meet, enjoy coffee, wait for friends, or simply experience the landscape before continuing across the bridge. Bright umbrellas, café-style seating, and vertical planted columns bring a human scale to the large open space, while the surrounding meadow-like planting softens the edges of the road and parking lot.

At the center of the garden, a mist fountain and vertical light elements create a visual landmark visible from the bridge and the nearby roadway. This feature adds movement, atmosphere, and identity to the gateway experience. The surrounding pollinator garden introduces seasonal color, texture, and ecological value, supporting bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects.

The design also strengthens the identity of College Park by connecting infrastructure with creative placemaking. The pedestrian bridge becomes not only a crossing, but part of a larger public experience. The terrace, garden, and bridge together form a new civic gateway — one that celebrates landscape, mobility, ecology, and community gathering.