PenPlace Arlington, Virginia

Services Provided

Landscape Architecture
Design & Documentation

People Involved

Jonathan Fitch

An open space strategy guides the activation of a 12-acre block in Arlington, VA, providing a series of shared spaces for retail and recreation.

MKSK worked with the architects and the client to develop the open space strategy and written design guidelines for PenPlace’s 12-acre block, included streetscapes, plazas, parks and private landscapes.

The primary strategy created a continuous linear open space that will connect all of the buildings with internal parks and plazas with the new streetcar system.

The southern plaza is envisioned as the center of PenPlace’s retail activity. At the northern end, a smaller hardscape is organized around a work of public art visible throughout the development.

A continuous bio-retention garden will establish a gently curved path, 30-feet-wide at the south and narrowing to 10-feet-wide at the north, linking all three open spaces.     

The heart of the new development comprises a 1.5-acre green park, the east and west edges of which will be curbless zones shared by cars and pedestrians.