Birmingham’s City Walk, completed in time for the World Games in July 2022, has won a design award for its linear urban park beneath the downtown interstate bridges.

Barge Design Solutions was presented with the Grand Award for its master plan design of City Walk BHAM at the annual meeting of the American Council of Engineering Companies of Alabama during its Engineering Excellence Awards Gala on April 27.

Barge worked with its longtime client the Alabama Department of Transportation to design the master plan for the 31-acre, 10-block project to reconnect neighborhoods under the Interstate 20/59 bridges through downtown Birmingham.

The five-year plan involved community feedback through public outreach meetings and online surveys. Features based on popular requests included walking paths, a dog park, a food truck area, sports fields, a world-class playground, water features, a 60,000-square-foot skate park, a biergarten, pickleball courts and open-air classrooms.

Materials used in the landscape design represented the city’s historic role in the steel industry.

The ADA-accessible Destination Playground highlights Alabama’s five physiographic regions: coastal plain, Piedmont, Alabama Ridge and Valley, Cumberland Plateau and Highland Rim.

The City Walk also highlight’s Birmingham’s role in the Civil Rights movement, through the use of signs and other features.

The space along 16th Street North includes gathering space for schools and groups visiting the Civil Rights District.

The City Walk served as “The World Games Plaza” in July 2022. Leasing of retail and office space along the linear park has been increasing.

“These developments show that City Walk BHAM is a significant contribution to the revitalization of the downtown area and will continue to make an impact as the destination where Birmingham connects,” Barge said in a statement released this week.