Waterloo Park

• Soften the hard edges of the highly engineered, previously existing inlet facility while reclaiming lost wetland habitat and the area above and around the facility for parkland and public access.
• Retain, absorb, and reuse stormwater on-site and reduce the need to rely on scarce city water for irrigation. 
• Establish a family-friendly space for intergenerational park use downtown, which has seen a decline in family uses in recent years.
• Increase equitable access to the park through free programming and ensure overall accessibility. 
• Support maintenance and restoration efforts for the larger 1.5-mile-long Waterloo Greenway through free programs and ticketed events.

• Farmer Bridge is the primary entrance from the east side. Connecting pedestrians and bikers from Red River Street, the bridge showcases historical photos of floods in Waller Creek and explains the creek restoration effort and strategies, including re-introducing woody debris, vegetated slopes, and caliche blocks.
• Caliche blocks are stacked along creek edges to provide aquatic habitat. The use of caliche, which is the top layer of limestone, both protects the edges from erosion and initiates the restoration of riparian habitats by allowing sediment, debris, and small organisms to inhabit its seams. 
• Waterloo Park contains 514 individual trees with 449 new, 61 conserved, and 8 transplanted heritage trees.
• 2 heritage trees anchor a playground covering 6,000 sf, including a 150-ton live oak transplanted from the Texas State Capitol grounds. The playground includes a granite slide built into a hill that was designed to slow thermal conductivity and remain cool during the summer. The playground also offers interactive play elements that encourage climbing and exploring, such as a log climbing feature and a small maze of tall grass-like poles.
• A tree deck next to the Moody Amphitheater includes 2 additional heritage live oaks estimated to be over 200 years old. An arborist assisted in designing custom fabricated tree braces for each tree and remained on site during construction to ensure the root systems were unharmed during installation of the raised deck, which protects the trees from soil compaction and extreme weather events.
• Lebermann Plaza is a more intimate gathering area with limestone blocks that provide seating for 100 people. The Plaza is located facing the Texas Capitol visual corridor, providing a direct view to the Capitol grounds.
• The Suzanne Deal Booth Skywalk is an elevated pedestrian bridge that is raised to canopy level. The bridge connects pedestrians and cyclists from the corner of Trinity and 12^th to the Hill Country Garden, Lebermann Plaza, and the playground. It establishes an additional 1.5 miles of hiking and biking trails to increase downtown greenbelt micromobility. The design of the bridge was integral to providing access to all areas of the park and mitigating the site’s 54-ft grade change.
• The Hill Country Garden is reminiscent of the Texas Hill Country, with rolling slopes that feature small stone pathways and showcase 100 herbaceous perennial species, 32 shrub species, and a total of 91,904 individual plants. The planting design in Hill Country Garden creates a “self-healing mat” which allows the plant systems to best adapt to the microclimates of the rolling hills.
• The Hill Country Garden also contains 3 rain gardens with a total capacity of 3,806 cu ft.  Water is captured in an underground cistern below Moody Amphitheater, and the cistern slowly releases water into each of these rain gardens at a reduced rate to ensure no overflow. The rain gardens include species with high water absorbency rates such as wax mallow (Malvavisicus arboreus) and deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens). 100% of water for irrigation in this garden is reused greywater from the city system; however, irrigation is infrequent overall because plants are 95% native with low water use needs.
• 20 down-cast, dispersed lighting bollards in the Hill Country Garden reduce light pollution.
• The Winkler Family Wetland Terrace features a 6,550-sf constructed wetland that contains 16 native wetland species including broadleaf arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia) and pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata).
• Several yards away from the wetland is a 150-year-old heritage live oak transplanted from the Austin Symphony Orchestra. The tree features a custom-built circular bench that protects the root ball from soil compaction.
• Atop Moody Amphitheater is a green roof with native species like century plant (Agave americana), agarita (Mahonia trifoliata), and prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica). The amphitheater is set into the grade, allowing for pedestrians on Trinity Street to look down into the stage and 38,000-sf great lawn. The amphitheater holds 5,000 people and is covered by an architect-designed “steel cloud” canopy consisting of 16 layers of steel, aluminum, and glass.
• Upstream water flows into the flood control tunnel inlet for Waller Creek through the inlet facility, a large concrete structure where flow is managed and trash is removed. On the side of the facility, Venezuelan artist Arturo Herrera and local Austin artists created a mural inspired by the flow of water through the urban environment as part of Waterloo Greenway’s arts programming. The mural is clearly visible while visiting the park.­­
• The park hosts temporary art exhibits including “Seeing Bees,” a large-format image of honeybees created using an electron microscope by photographer Dan Winters. The annual “Creek Show” light installations are displayed along the creek edge to raise awareness about restoring Waller Creek by local artists. Additionally, a video art installation of historical artifacts found in Waller Creek has been displayed at the amphitheater.

Waterloo Park is located just above the inlet of a flood control tunnel for Waller Creek. The construction of the tunnel reduced the 100-year floodplain by 28 acres (approximately 11% of the downtown area) along the adjacent streets. The Waller Creek Tunnel first broke ground in 2011, taking six years to complete. The tunnel is approximately 5,600 ft long and moves floodwaters 70 ft below downtown and into Lady Bird Lake. Historically, Waller Creek has caused devastating floods in the community, including a significant event in 1915 where 12 people lost their lives during Waller Creek’s flash floods. The Waller Creek Tunnel prevents flooding south of 12th Street and supports the creek’s health. Completed by the City of Austin in 2017, the tunnel’s construction led to the revitalization of the formerly neglected Waterloo Park and the creation of Waterloo Greenway.

Waterloo Greenway is a 1.5-mile park system connecting the community to the future Waterloo Greenway expansion plan. Once complete, the Waterloo Greenway will include 35 acres of green space through a public-private partnership with the City of Austin and Waterloo Greenway Conservancy. The Greenway is focused on creek restoration, downtown greenway mobility, and park spaces.

Waterloo Park is the first phase of Waterloo Greenway and provides funding for the creation and ongoing maintenance of the remaining chain of parks. The funding is generated through multiple charitable events hosted at Waterloo Park including Pop-Up Picnic and Annual Benefit Concert. The Greenway project includes three phases: Waterloo Park (the event space), The Confluence (a hike and bike trail along the restored creek edge), and Palm Park (the restoration of the historical community park). The final phase is expected to break ground in 2026.

• In-ground electrical products advertised for weatherproof landscape applications failed due to rainwater, humidity, and irrigation, so they need to be raised above ground level.
• One year after opening, it was discovered that the decomposed granite specified for the Family Commons could not be replenished locally because it was sourced from a national supplier with unclear production sites. The material was replaced with a locally sourced stone material alternative.
• To manage the 54-ft grade change on site, the design team used caliche block gravity walls throughout the site as retaining walls and seating. The caliche blocks were quarry waste products that were repurposed on-site. The gravity walls were discovered to have the unexpected benefit of easy graffiti removal compared to concrete.
• Including a local permitting expediter to support the design team earlier in the process would have saved time and money spent navigating permitting and approvals.
• Landscape architects collaborated with the concert venue company early in the design process to ensure that the amphitheater space could function as a stand-alone area without needing to close the entire park during events.
• Because the site is built over and around the inlet facility, the design team’s ability to pursue certifications like SITES was limited. However, the presence of such heavy grey infrastructure on-site also provided opportunities, simultaneously forcing the design team to develop solutions to hide and highlight the infrastructure, resulting in the amphitheater extending over the creek. The infrastructure also required some natural wetland habitat to be removed which resulted in the constructed wetland in the south side of the project.
• At the tree deck, the lighting responds to the sunlight hours to reduce electricity usage, but the sensors were placed at the top of the pole where the oak trees constantly shade the sensor, which resulted in each pole needing to be rewired to timers.

Trash, Recycle, Compost Bins: Landscape Forms Lakeside Plain Side Powder Coated
Drinking Fountain & Filler Station: Most Dependable Drinking w/ Pet Fountain: 440 SMSSSFA; Bottle Filler: 10125 SMSS
Bicycle Rack: Anova Circle Bicycle Rack
Circle Bench: Vestre Via, Laminated Scandinavian Pine w/ stainless steel base and hardware
Granite Slide: Richter Spielgeräte supplied by APE Studio Inc.
Log Jam: Richter Spielgeräte supplied by APE Studio Inc.
Inlet Pond Driveway Gate: Hoover Fence Co. S-Series Tubular Barrier Gate Powder Coated
Bollards: Maxiforce Collapsible MCSW-SS!-U; Maxiforce Removeable MRSW-SS1-U
Guardrail/Handrail: Oxidized Black Stainless Steel
Venue Plant Rail: Oxidized Black Stainless Steel
Plant Rail: Black Locust Lathed and Sanded
Wood Deck: Thermory Thermally Modified Ash
Precast Concrete Pavers: Hanover 12”x12” Heavy Tudor Finish
Decomposed Granite: KAFKA Red Cedar Granite; Autumn Blend Marble
Pervious Concrete w/ Flush CIP Curb Edging: Raincrete
Brick Paver: Whiteacre 4”x4”
Parkland Light Pole: BK Lighting with ULS Pole Powder Coated
Venue Light Pole: Metero with ULS Pole Powder Coated
Custom Light Bollard: Cole Lighting Powder Coated
Small Recessed Wall Light: Vestre Pre-Cast Seatwall, ELT16 Targetti – Zedge LED Small Step Light
Large Recessed Wall Light: Venue CIP Concrete Seatwall, ELT17 Bega – LED
Custom Marker Light: Focus Industries

Project Team

Accessibility Consultant: Altura
Structural Engineering: Architectural Engineers Collaborative
Local Landscape Architect: dwg.
Contractor: DPR Construction
MEP Engineering: EEA Consulting Engineers
Operations and Maintenance: ETM Associates
Irrigation Design: James Pole Irrigation Consultants
Wetland Design: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Hydrology: LimnoTech
Restroom Architecture: Michael Hsu Office of Architecture
Soil Science: Olsson Associates
Waterproofing: SGH
Geotechnical Engineering: Terracon
Architecture: Thomas Phifer and Partners
Lighting Design: Tillett Lighting Design Associates
Civil Engineering: WGI

Role of the Landscape Architect

The landscape architect served as lead project designer throughout the design and construction of Waterloo Park, working in close collaboration with a large consultant team and in coordination with several city departments. The landscape architect had previously prepared a Framework Plan inclusive of the park site and creek corridor in 2015. The landscape architect also integrated the performance venue into the topography and landscape and studied the venue’s capacity to support park operations and maintenance. They also conducted iterative creek channel design in dialogue with hydrological modeling of upstream flows.