Location: Washington, DC

Services include:

• Landscape architecture
• Urban planning
• Transportation planning
• Water resources engineering
  

In recent years, planning initiatives in Washington, DC have attempted to revitalize and unify neighborhoods with one of the city’s forgotten natural assets, the Anacostia River. Transforming concept plans to implementation designs required a comprehensive planning/design manual accepted by regulatory agencies, large redevelopment opportunities, and the buy-in from influential agencies and individuals to adjust regulations when these design solutions challenged the status quo. Baker played a major role in three projects within the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative that embody these environmental and infrastructure goals.

The Anacostia Waterfront Transportation Architecture Design Guidelines represent a holistic multi-modal design approach to improve the area’s transportation system. The overarching intent of the guidelines is to create a more pedestrian friendly environment to attract future development and foster environmental stewardship. The Hill East Waterfront Redevelopment is a proposed urban mixed use neighborhood on the banks of the Anacostia River. This project was the first opportunity to implement the AWI Guidelines on a large scale and resulted in design documents that emphasized the weaving of stormwater runoff control into the overall streetscape design using sustainable practices that provide natural settings. See Baker Signature Magazine Volume 2 – Issue 1 – 2008 Feature Article. Baker also supported the development of the Anacostia Waterfront Environmental Standards using technical justification to create potentially the most innovative and environmentally sustainable ultra-urban stormwater management policies nationwide.  The Environmental Standards are being expanded District-wide for City buildings and are recognized by USEPA in the District’s NPDES MS4 permit revisions.