Type: Municipal
Services: Park Restoration
Principal In Charge: Michael A. Cook, PLA
Client: Mike Moran, Public Works Director City of Lafayette

Michael Cook provided planning and design services for the Plaza Park restoration, the Mt. Diablo/Moraga Road/Plaza Way Street Improvements, and façade Restoration of historic buildings along Plaza Way, in the City of Walnut Creek. As part of a team of SZFM Design Studio (Sudhish Mohindroo, Lead Architect) and a traffic engineer, Michael Cook provided preliminary landscape concepts to final design plans.

Phases included initial evaluations that included public meetings with more than 13 different City and public interest groups, conducting public workshops and consensus building for the successful renewal of the park, and reconfiguration of the historic town center. Michael Cook’s scope of services included assisting the City of Lafayette with Street Tree Standards, streetscape improvements, providing a large open space downtown, creating convertible spaces which the city would be able to use as parking or special events, and large pergolas for shade.

The result, now installed for several years, has been immensely successful for the adjacent business owners, the downtown community, and the City as a whole. Upon a recent visit to Plaza Park, we were again congratulated on the amazing space that we designed.