Mahan Rykiel recently partnered with Landscape Architecture Foundation’s (LAF) Landscape Performance Series. The series is a research program that studies landscape performance benefits of projects led by landscape architects.  LAF focused their efforts on Sandlot, an interim, pop-up active waterfront destination and eatery located on a former industrial site in Baltimore, Maryland’s Inner Harbor. Cut off from the rest of the city for more than 140 years by industry and resulting pollution, this  vacant 2-acre gravel site has undergone intensive environmental remediation and is now home to Sandlot.

The study delves into the environmental, social and economic benefits; as well as the lessons learned during construction.

As the landscape architect of Sandlot, Mahan Rykiel was responsible for generating conceptual sketches for placemaking elements and functional site layouts, pushing the boundaries of temporary site design. We generated a typology of site elements, products, and construction methodologies, by collaborating closely with the client and builder to find creative solutions for construction implementation on a unique and challenging site.

Project Team

Client/Operator: Foodshed
Developer: Beatty Development Group
Landscape Architect: Mahan Rykiel Associates, Inc.
Architect: BHC Architects
Civil Engineer: RK&K
Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing: JDB Engineering Structural
Engineer: Morris Ritchie Associates
Contractor: Studio on Sisson Street

Case Study Prepared By

Research Fellow: Pavlina Ilieva, AIA, Program Director/Assistant Professor, Morgan State University
Research Assistant: Naomi Wong Hemme, Master of Architecture Candidate, Morgan State University
Firm Liaison: Isaac Hametz, Research Director, Mahan Rykiel Associates, Inc.
August 2018

To cite:

Ilieva, Pavlina, and Naomi Wong Hemme. “Sandlot.” Landscape Performance Series. Landscape Architecture Foundation, 2018. https://doi.org/10.31353/cs1330

READ THE REPORT HERE: Sandlot | Landscape Performance Series