The AIA honors Parks for Downtown Dallas with the 2023 Collaborative Achievement Award

The American Institute of Architects has honored the nonprofit Parks for Downtown Dallas with its 2023 Collaborative Achievement Award. The annual award recognizes “the excellence that results when architects work with those outside the profession to improve the spaces where people live and work.”

Since its founding in 2015, Parks for Downtown Dallas has focused on the delivery of four parks that have greatly enhanced Dallas’ downtown area and is described by the AIA as “a powerful example of a public/private partnership operating at the highest level to realize a bold vision in an era of tight municipal budgets.”

To fund the projects, Parks for Downtown Dallas raised $56 million in gifts from the city’s philanthropic community as well as $39.4 million in public bond funds from Dallas residents. The parks were then developed by design firms including SWA, Hargreaves Jones, James Corner Field Operations, and Ten Eyck Landscape Architects with the support of 44 additional design, engineering, and consulting firms. 

With construction of the parks now approaching completion, the nonprofit has begun shifting its mission to ensure the long-term stewardship of the park system. As part of this, the group has set a goal of raising $50 million for maintenance, security, and community outreach for both the four new parks and the city’s wider park network.

News of the award comes at the same time that the AIA announced the winners of their 2023 Young Architects Award, 2023 Associate Award, and 2023 Architecture Awards.