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The Tampa Riverwalk

Kimley-Horn provided urban design and landscape architecture services for the Riverwalk at Kennedy Boulevard Plaza in Tampa, Florida.

Connecting nearly 2.5 miles of continuous waterfront amenity, the Kennedy Boulevard Plaza is the longest over-water segment and the crown jewel of Tampa’s Riverwalk. Kimley-Horn provided urban design and landscape architecture services for this exciting project.

The Riverwalk at Kennedy Boulevard Plaza is the final link between the southern and northern leg of the Tampa Riverwalk. At over a third of a mile, the Kennedy Boulevard Plaza segment connects MacDill Park to Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park under the Historic Kennedy Boulevard Bridge, a major corridor to the urban core of downtown Tampa. The structure also serves as a pathway to two of Tampa’s downtown attractions: the new Tampa Museum of Art and the new Glazer Children’s Museum.

The Kimley-Horn team approached the design of this segment as a celebration of Kennedy Boulevard Plaza in the form of a “Gateway” to the urban core. Our design focused on Tampa’s tropical waterfront and heritage, and incorporated cabana-like shading elements and trellis features to offer relief and playful interaction with the Florida sunshine. The form-giving components of the shade features evolved from the curvature edge of the deck platform, creating “hoop” geometry for structural integrity to withstand the regional wind loading in an elegant and simplistic shape. Creative lighting design and complimenting furniture add to the pedestrian experience to give patrons an engaging and unique perspective of Tampa’s waterfront.

Project Recognition