Golden Gate Park’s Middle Lake
Middle Lake is Rising!
Spring is here and Middle Lake is almost complete and the water level is rising. Now home to aquatic plants, nesting birds and some 12,000 new plants including over 80 native species of trees and understory plants. Soon San Franciscans will be able to stroll around the lake’s edge, over two bridges and along a new cascade within a flowering pacific dogwood grove.
Come visit this summer to enjoy a stroll on the mile long loop trail, a contemplative vista from one of the numerous benches along the lake’s edge, or unroll your picnic blanket on a nearby lawn and listen to the chatter of the birds.
Golden Gate Park’s Middle Lake – Breaks Ground
INTERSTICE is proud and excited to be part of the team that is undertaking the restoration of a critical piece of green infrastructure in Golden Gate Park; we are re-building Middle Lake. This freshwater lake is one in a series of three lakes called the Chain of Lakes, which flow north from South Lake, to Middle Lake, and into North Lake at the western end of the park. The original design & construction of these lakes dates back to 1898 and all required a clay liner to hold water over the ancient sand dunes that underlie the park.
Following a year plus long design process, construction of the project began in the early months of 2023 with the selective removal of certain trees and the protection of many other existing mature trees in preparation to rehabilitate the lake.
INTERSTICE, as the landscape architect, is working with Civil Engineers AGS and Woodard & Curran, overseeing the new lake design installation to achieve improved accessibility and enjoyment for park visitors, and a diverse plant and aquatic ecology that will provide improved habitat for insects, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals that constitute the spectrum of the wildlife that inhabits and moves through Golden Gate Park. Bauman Construction is the General Contractor leading the construction effort working with the SF Recreation & Parks Department and SF Department of Public Works.
This significant undertaking includes replacing the clay liner lake bottom and increasing the water depth, clearing the pipes connecting Middle Lake to South and North Lakes, and rehabilitating the rock cascade that connects to the Fly Casting Pools.
The new design includes a perimeter loop trail that bridges the cascade, significant and diverse native and aquatic plantings surrounding the lake, furnished seating areas with lookouts along the new pathway which encircles the lake and climbs the slope beside the cascade. The future plantings include over a dozen native tree species, over50 species of native understory plants, including shrubs, groundcovers, grasses, rushes and aquatic and riparian species located at the lakes edge.
The establishment of the clay liner and lake edge are the first phase and significant part of the work.
Boulder mock-ups for the lake edge perimeter.
New furnishings being crafted from salvaged trees that were planned for removal or came down in this winter’s storms.
We look forward to sharing more progress as the liner is completed and the lake starts to take shape this Spring.
Amy’s Drive-Thru Construction Well Underway
We recently drove up to Corte Madera to take a look at the progress of our Amy’s Drive-Thru restaurant project—and it is starting to take shape! It is now a fully enclosed building: walls, windows, doors, and roof have sprung up this past winter. Currently, electrical systems are being installed and the site is being prepped for paving, plantings, and parking. Amy’s will become the first drive-thru restaurant in the city of Corte Madera, fully supported by the community due to its sustainability as a vegetarian eatery conscious of its environmental impact. The green roof starts installation soon!
Current Project: Comox House
The Comox House, located on Vancouver Island, BC, is nearing completion, and we thought we’d share some progress photos with you as its construction winds down to the finish. If you’re curious to learn more about the house’s design, take a look at our website to see more photos and drawings.
The existing site was chosen for its remarkable and dense cluster of mature Douglas Fir trees which traverse the beach frontage. These trees are an exceptional environmental resource and critical to the coastal riparian habitat which has suffered significant depletion at the hands of insensitive development. The preservation of these trees became the departure point for the critical approach and formal language of the house. The proposed residence is sited to pass between them, maintaining and protecting them. As the house squeezes between the trees searching for the oceanfront, it elevates seven feet into the air onto a series of piloti placed on an irregular grid to avoid the critical network of roots of the mature trees. The pier foundations avoid imposition on the tree’s root systems and minimize the surface area of associated soil disturbance. The ecology of the site was prioritized and the impact of the house was consciously offset to maintain equilibrium and habitat.
