1 Battery Park City is a 92-acre residential and commercial development in Manhattan, adjacent to Battery Park and the Hudson River. Battery Park City encompasses an extensive public open space system including a mile and one quarter long riverside esplanade, several miles of streets, and a number of parks and squares. Once a landfill, the site was devoid of natural features such as topography, vegetation, and microclimatic diversity. To make certain that the fabric of the new development would connect seamlessly with the city, local parks were inventoried and analyzed. A vocabulary of pavements and site furnishings that characterize New York City's public realm, such as hexagonal asphalt pavers, cobble tree planting strips, and continuous wooden benches around planting beds, was incorporated into the design guidelines. The materials created a backdrop on which inventions of artwork and activity could take place. Olin Partnership's role was to prepare an overall site assessment, an open space master plan, and cost estimates for the master plan. Detailed designs of major elements were also produced. The firm also completed design documentation and administered landscaped construction for Phases I and II of the esplanade. For its completed work at Battery Park, Olin Partnership received The City Club of New York's Albert S. Bard Award, an American Society of Landscape Architects Merit Award, and a Progressive Architecture Award for Urban Planning.