Jon Swae - Street Tree Nursery

I led the effort to turn a vacant freeway parcel in downtown San Francisco into the award-winning Street Tree Nursery and Climate Learning Center. Located between the on and off-ramps to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the 14,000-square-foot facility provides a locally based system of tree propagation and care as well as volunteer, educational and workforce development opportunities.

I guided the project from initial concept through funding, design, coordination with City and State agencies and construction. Working with San Francisco Public Works, Caltrans, and other partners, I helped secure nearly $7 million to bring the project to life. The nursery is powered entirely by solar energy and can grow up to 2,000 trees per year.

The San Francisco Street Tree Nursery was also designed as a welcoming civic space for environmental education, public events, volunteer activities and community programming. By transforming an overlooked piece of land amidst freeway infrastructure into a productive green space, the project shows how even some of the city's most challenging urban sites can be reimagined to benefit the environment and surrounding communities.