In 2014, the city of Austin approved a redevelopment and restoration plan for the 84 acres of urban green space occupied by Pease Park, the oldest public park in the Texas capital, focusing the design on built elements, historic features, and cultural resources. For the project, Ten Eyck Landscape Architects collaborated with Clayton Korte and Mell Lawrence Architects to revitalize the southernmost portion of the park, known as Kingsbury Commons, transforming it into a place to play and celebrate the park’s history.

The renovated Kingsbury Commons now serves as the park’s new entrance, inviting visitors to enter through historic stone arches and mature live oak trees. Removing some functional elements and facilitating visual permeability, the design of the new park interweaves existing mature vegetation with a robust program of facilities and services that includes event rental spaces, new restrooms and storage facilities, an observation pod from above, natural playgrounds, a basketball court, and an interactive water feature.

The team also worked on the restoration of a 1920s Tudor cottage that sits on a cliff overlooking the park. The abandoned structure was previously used as a restroom and storage facility, but the team transformed it into an event venue with a new vaulted structure and a large north window that complement the existing wood shingle roof material and cleaned-up exterior.

An important element of the new project, on the other hand, Treescape is a 12-meter steel sphere on two levels creates a tree observation house with a net hammock and a central oculus. The lower level connects to decomposed granite paths, while the upper level is accessed via a wheelchair-accessible bridge on the hillside.