South Street Mall transforms a compact Jamaica Plain neighborhood park into a vibrant setting for gathering, play and recreation. RDLA worked with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the community and environmental artist Beth Galston to create an integrated design that brings together landscape architecture, public art and neighborhood identity.

A welcoming gathering space along South Street is framed by shade trees, curving granite seat walls, four-season plantings and specialty paving. A sculptural purple chain-link fence, developed through RDLA’s collaboration with Galston, sweeps through the landscape, separating active recreation from quieter uses while becoming the park’s defining visual element.

The project was Boston Parks and Recreation’s first integrated collaboration between a landscape architect and artist on a park design. South Street Mall received a 2011 Boston Society of Landscape Architects Merit Award and the 2011 Les Grube Memorial Design Award.