Wood St. Pocket Park    Oakland, California

Miller Company designed pocket parks at 14th Street and 16th Street near the intersection of Wood Street in West Oakland, to serve residential communities in the evolving Central Station neighborhood. The pocket parks were designed to provide pedestrian connectivity and strong edge relationships among new and existing residential communities in the neighborhood. The parks create public social space on streets that once carried heavy industrial traffic through the neighborhood.    

The central landmark of the neighborhood is Oakland’s historic 16th Street railroad station, built in 1912 in period Beaux Arts style. The station was once the western terminus of the transcontinental railroad, the place where thousands of migrants and visitors first stepped foot on the California Coast. Today the station is flanked by residential developments including two of our projects: Pacific Cannery Lofts and Zephyr Gate.

The 14th Street Pocket Park features the reuse of historic canopy structures salvaged from the train station. The steel butterfly structures that once sheltered passengers on the train platforms have been repurposed to provide shade for quiet seating areas. Tinted translucent panels replace the original concrete panels of the canopies, allowing filtered light to reach those underneath. Raised concrete planter boxes and in-ground beds are filled with a variety of perennials that bring color and texture to the park. A border of palm trees gives vertical contrast to the canopies. A broad central paved area provides a flexible space for socializing or impromptu court games.

Owner:  City of Oakland 
Civil Engineer:  Sandis
Structural Engineer:  Tipping Mar Structural Engineers
MCLA Team: Jeffrey Miller, Will Rogers