Meydenbauer Bay Park

Project Title: Meydenbauer Bay Park: Bellevue reconnects to its waterfront
Landscape Architect: Anchor QEA
Category: General Design - Public Ownership
Location: Bellevue, WA
Description:
Meydenbauer Bay Park is the first phase of the City of Bellevue’s vision to connect its downtown to its waterfront origins. The park invites Bellevue back to Meydenbauer Bay, where the city took root in 1869. In recent decades, the City had not embraced its waterfront, but this project changes that: a largely private waterfront where single-family residences once stood is now a 7-acre park with a swim beach, open hillside, a wide array of viewpoints, and a hierarchy of pathways that stitch the bustling urban energy into its landscape position, a dynamic shoreline on a very steep slope. Habitat and ecological process restoration includes a salmon-friendly shoreline and a ravine with daylighted creek, and low-impact development techniques were used throughout. Artwork, including guardrail panels inspired by Northwest traditional woodcarving and tiles depicting local historical imagery, reflects the site’s human and natural history. A sweeping pedestrian pier extends from the park’s uplands to a large, overwater viewing area, where skyscrapers peek out above the landscape, reminding people that Bellevue is still a waterfront city.

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