Hilltop Park
Hilltop Park
San Francisco, California
Set atop San Francisco’s Bayview Hill, the park was originally designed by Michael Painter Associates and built in 1979. It featured a 70-foot tall sundial and amphitheater created by artist Jaques Overhoff, concrete slides, and the city's first skatepark. Over the years, the park fell into disrepair. The Trust for Public Land, Bay View neighborhood park advocacy group Parks 94124, and Miller Company held large scale community meetings and small focus group gatherings to discuss the needs of the neighborhood and bring new ideas to the table.
Completed in 2016, the park now includes a large children’s playground with a colorful celestial theme offering climbing equipment, slides, swings and natural boulders to climb on. The skatepark received a new "Dish" funded in part by the Tony Hawk Foundation and designed and built by Grindline. Check out Thrasher Magazine's great little video.
Other improvements include telescopes for viewing the cityscape, a large grassy area near the the brilliantly repainted sundial, new art installations, an adult exercise area, increased picnic and barbecue facilities, accessibility enhancements, new park lighting, and sustainable features such as native plantings on the park’s hillsides, along with natural irrigation and stormwater retention.
Award
2019 Honor Award for Design in Parks, Recreation, Trails and Open Space - American Society of Landscape Architects, Northern California Chapter
Completion Date: 2018
Size: 3.5 acres
Client: Trust for Public Land, San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, CA Department of Parks and Recreation
MCLA Team: Jeffrey Miller, Sarka Volejnikova
