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News > Outside In: Plazas/Courtyards > Central Park, Davis Center

Central Park, Davis Center

The 26,000-sq-ft green roof atop the Davis Center at Harlem Meer by Studio Sustena blends with Central Park’s landscape, using trees, meadows, and native shrubs to support ecological restoration.
Photos by Studio Sustena (photos), Susan T. Rodriguez (renderings)
Photos by Studio Sustena (photos), Susan T. Rodriguez (renderings)

Completed in 2025

The $160 million Davis Center represents the biggest investment in Central Park’s restoration in recent history, and one of New York’s most significant public projects aimed at serving low-income communities north of Central Park. The project provides a state-of-the-art pool that transforms into a skating rink in winter and synthetic turf lawn in spring and fall. A new support building that flanks the pool is seamlessly built into the adjacent hillside, creating a bold addition to the nation’s most famous public park.
We were honored to design the green roofs that envelope the building in close collaboration with the project’s landscape architect and owner, the Central Park Conservancy. The sloped green roofs optimize soil depth while accommodating tree stabilization, boulder outcrops, and biodiverse plantings.

Team Members:

Owner: Central Park Conservancy
Owners Representative: Seamus Henchy and Associates, Inc.
Design Architect: Susan T. Rodriguez Architecture & Design
Architect of Record: Mitchell Giurgola Architects LLP
Structural Engineer: LERA Consulting Engineers, Inc.
Pool & Rink Consultant: Stantec
Landscape Architect: Central Park Conservancy
Green Roof Consultant: Studio Sustena
Site/Civil, Geotechnical Engineer: Langan Engineering & Environmental Services
General Contractor: EW Howell Construction Group
Green Roof Contractor: Adaptive Green

 

https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/the-davis-center https://studio-sustena.com/property-item/central-park-harlem-meer-green-roof/

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