Winner: Infrastructure and transport project of the year 2024. Nelson Bryd Woltz has designed and restored the Land Bridge & Prairie at Memorial Park in Houston, United States.

Spanning over the park's most divisive feature – the six-lane Memorial Drive – this nearly 100-acre transformative project reunites the park's long-divided north and south sides.

The land bridge adds two new acres of dynamic community space for the park, native prairie and savannah ecologies, multi-use trail networks and iconic viewpoints of Houston's skyline.

The prairie restoration aspect re-introduces endangered native Gulf Coast Prairie species and adds additional wetlands to areas north and south of Memorial Drive.

These serve important habitat and stormwater management functions, provide immersive and visual interest year-round and are essential vital habitats.

Judges comments: "This project is a prime example of how design can heal and restore landscapes disrupted by infrastructure. By using landscape architecture to restore ecological balance, the project demonstrates a thoughtful, impactful approach to environmental stewardship. This is exactly the kind of intervention we should be aiming for in efforts to heal our planet."

Studio: Nelson Byrd Woltz
Project: The Land Bridge & Prairie at Memorial Park
Credits: Memorial Park Conservancy, Kinder Foundation, Uptown Houston, Houston Department of Parks and Recreation, The Nature Conservancy, Walter P Moore, Freese and Nichols, Gandy² Lighting Design, Olsson, METALAB, Tellepsen Builders, Berg-Oliver Associates, Gunda Corporation, Texas Project Administration Services, Pole Irrigation Consultants, Wildlife Habitat Federation, Hunt and Hunt Engineering Corp and Minor Design