Transforming Baltimore’s Waterfront
Harbor Point Park and T. Rowe Price headquarters represent the final phase of a decades-long transformation of Baltimore’s waterfront, converting the site of a former industrial brownfield into a vibrant mixed-use destination. The project completes a vision for a public realm connecting the new T. Rowe Price headquarters with residential towers, retail, hospitality, gathering spaces, and the waterfront promenade.
The landscape design bridges the site’s past and future, combining contemporary urban spaces with naturalized environments inspired by the Chesapeake Bay and the serpentine grasslands of Baltimore County. Native and adaptive plant communities, plazas, terraces, promenades, and waterfront gathering areas create an inviting destination while acknowledging the site’s Indigenous heritage and industrial history.
Scope
The landscape installation required integrating extensive grading, infrastructure, hardscape, and planting systems across a complex waterfront site. The work included more than 12,000 tons of engineered soils, 221,000 square feet of soil separator fabric, extensive drainage infrastructure, and a $543,000 irrigation system.
Crews also installed 47,400 square feet of concrete, nearly 60,000 square feet of architectural paving, more than 6,000 linear feet of precast concrete elements, and 4,100 linear feet of Ipe decking to form interconnected plazas, promenades, terraces, and gathering spaces. The landscape was completed with more than an acre of sod, 210 trees, more than 2,000 shrubs, nearly 19,700 perennials and groundcovers, 3,000 tons of natural stone, and $375,000 in custom site amenities.
Challenges
Building a major landscape on a remediated industrial site presented unique environmental constraints. Contaminated soils from the former chromium processing facility had been permanently sealed beneath a protective cap. To provide an additional safeguard, crews installed more than 221,000 square feet of orange soil separator fabric approximately 24 inches below finish grade. Excavation reaching either warning layer required work to stop for environmental inspection, and select deeper excavations required coordination with an environmental team and specialized off-site soil disposal.
Much of the development was also constructed over parking structures, creating strict limitations on structural loading, soil depths, equipment use, and material selection. Lightweight soils and specialized aggregates were necessary, while heavy precast elements and boulders had to be maneuvered without conventional machinery.
Logistics added another layer of complexity. Landscape work progressed alongside active building construction and utility installation, often requiring work to occur out of sequence. Sixty-five precast tree vaults, each weighing approximately 15,000 pounds, had to be installed early so underground utilities could later be constructed around them. Utility conflicts frequently required exploratory digging and resequencing. At the same time, the original six-month installation schedule for the T. Rowe Price headquarters was compressed to four months.
Solutions
Careful planning and constant communication kept the project moving despite these constraints. Just-in-time deliveries helped accommodate limited staging space, protect plant quality, and maintain production. Twice-weekly coordination meetings with the general contractor, weekly site walks with the landscape architect, and daily planning with subcontractors allowed potential conflicts to be identified and resolved early.
Specialized installation techniques were equally important. Stone shooters placed lightweight fill in elevated planters, while cranes, gantry cranes, pallet jacks, and other equipment positioned heavy tree vaults, walls, planters, and boulders where conventional machinery could not operate. Precise elevation control ensured hardscape, drainage, utilities, and planting systems aligned while remaining within structural limitations.
To meet the accelerated schedule, crews worked 16-hour days, six days a week, for nearly three months, shifting resources as site conditions changed while maintaining demanding quality standards.
Results
The completed landscape successfully brings together the urban and natural elements envisioned for Harbor Point. Nearly 22,000 shrubs, perennials, and groundcovers and 210 trees create a regionally inspired landscape influenced by Chesapeake Bay shorelines, native serpentine grasslands, and plant communities significant to the area’s Indigenous history. The plantings provide seasonal interest, support biodiversity, and help tell the ecological story of the site. Natural stone, armor stone, river rock, boulders, granite, architectural paving, decking, and specialty hardscape establish a strong architectural character while connecting plazas, promenades, gathering spaces, and the waterfront.
The result is more than a landscape installation—it is the transformation of a highly complex former industrial site into a resilient, accessible waterfront environment that celebrates Baltimore’s history while creating a new destination for employees, residents, and visitors.
