BOSTON - December 8, 2025 - On November 20, 2025, the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction announced Moakley Park as the North American Grand Prize winner of the 2025 Holcim Foundation Awards. This global award recognizes groundbreaking sustainable design that is beautiful and spatially relevant, minimizes resource use, creates inclusive and affordable living environments, and combines short-term financial feasibility with long-term value creation. The Holcim Foundation Awards are considered one of the world’s most significant honors in sustainable architecture.

For the last eight years, Moakley Park has been undergoing a community planning process to upgrade the park to best serve the needs of local residents, including upgraded athletic facilities, more spaces for community gathering, and flood resilience. The Holcim Prize Jury selected Moakley Park for its extensive public engagement to inform the park’s redesign, which included dozens of workshops, focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and tabling at neighborhood events. This engagement created a design that addresses both community priorities and Boston’s coastal vulnerability. The proposed design will redesign the ball fields so that they are less prone to flooding, as well as maximize play opportunities throughout the year through  improved playing surfaces, drainage, and lighting. Community amenities will include a premier baseball field with bleacher seating, a plaza with a splashpad, picnic areas, a half basketball court, multiuse paths, a maintenance building, and improved parking.

“The Moakley Park redesign will enhance this valued community space with upgraded climate resilience – simultaneously providing protection from coastal flooding and renovating it to be a state-of-the-art recreation space for residents to enjoy for generations,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “It is an honor for Boston to be recognized on an international stage. From ideas to construction, Moakley Park is carefully designed to withstand the clear and accelerating threat of climate change.”

Moakley Park was highlighted as a priority project in the City of Boston’s 2016 Climate Ready Boston Report, which identified areas projected to be at the greatest risk of extreme heat, stormwater flooding, and coastal flooding from sea-level rise and storms. Moakley Park and the adjacent areas represent a significant future flood pathway that, in combination with Fort Point Channel and Morrissey Boulevard, could flood portions of South Boston, the South End, and Roxbury and directly impact an estimated 35,000 people, including over 1,700 low-income families in two Boston Housing Authority communities.

To address increased flood risk, the City of Boston Parks and Recreation Department and the Boston Society of Landscape Architects organized a competition in 2016 to generate ideas for integrating flood protection strategies and community priorities into a redesigned Moakley Park. What began as a contest grew into a community planning process, selecting Stoss Landscape Urbanism, a South Boston-based landscape architecture firm, to lead the project.. The firm designated Weston & Sampson as the project lead. Local non-profit organizations, Boston Harbor Now and South Boston en Accion, have led community engagement efforts to help the team gather the input from residents, community leaders, and advocates to shape the design of the park. 

“This international recognition speaks to the innovative vision behind Moakley’s design and the hard work of our design and project teams,” said Cathy Baker-Eclipse, Interim Commissioner of the Boston Parks and Recreation Department. “We’re excited to deliver a park that provides upgraded athletic fields, accessibility, lighting, and flexible spaces for the community while also taking a big step toward protecting Boston from rising seas and storms. It was an honor to have Marin Braco, the Parks Department’s project lead, in Venice to receive this award alongside our design team.”

“I am grateful to the firms and community partners for their commitment to elevating our community’s voices in this once-in-a-generation redesign,” said Brian Swett, Chief Climate Officer. “We hope this award has reinvigorated everyone and given them a moment to celebrate how far Moakley Park has come. Our work is only getting started, and we look forward to constructing the vision the community and design team have worked so hard to create.”

“Moakley Park’s Holcim Foundation Award reflects years of community input, vision, and partnership. Residents have been clear about what this waterfront park means to them and what a climate ready future should look like,” said Kathy Abbott, President and CEO of Boston Harbor Now. “Designing with water instead of against it comes directly from their ideas and lived experience. Boston Harbor Now is proud to support the City’s community-driven process and to see the design by Weston & Sampson and Stoss Landscape Urbanism for Moakley Park recognized as a model for improving recreation and resiliency in our parks to protect people, incorporate nature, and deepen our connection to the harbor."

“The Moakley Park plan represents a unique collaboration between the South Boston and Dorchester communities, non-profit partners such as South Boston En Accion and Boston Harbor Now, and the City of Boston,” said Chris Reed, Founding Director of Stoss Landscape Urbanism. “It brings together park improvements and upgrades—directly inspired by community conversation– with climate adaptations that provide protection, enhance safety, and support well-being to nearby neighborhoods.”

“The Holcim Foundation’s recognition of Moakley Park affirms not only the strength of the design, but the dedication of residents, advocates, and City of Boston partners whose insights have shaped every major decision.” said Cheri Ruane, Principal-in-Charge at Weston & Sampson. “This award underscores what is possible when interdisciplinary teams work in true partnership—translating community voices, technical rigor, and innovative climate strategies into a park that will serve Boston for generations.”

“With resilience woven into the park paths, play features, and ballfield design, the Moakley Park plan is a great example of how reducing flood risk and enhancing a neighborhood park can go hand in hand,” said Chris Osgood, Director of the Office of Climate Resilience. “This park project can be a model for how we protect our communities while strengthening our open space — both here in Boston and beyond.

Throughout 2026, the City will be working with the community to refine the park design and flood protection to meet local needs. The latest series of workshops with the community took place on November 8 and 13, 2025. This winter, the team will be leading a series of focus groups, and will host community meetings in spring and fall of 2026.  The City is identifying paths to ensure the first phase of construction starts within the next three years.

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