The vision for Buffalo’s Outer Harbor Master Plan represents a transformative approach to revitalizing the waterfront, bringing positive change to the surrounding communities.  With the combination of State and Local governmental leadership collaborating with local leaders to implement the Master Plan, a targeted underutilized site was identified activate the City’s Lake Erie coastline with new public outdoor space amenities in the form of a new multi-use performance venue.  This ambitious plan seeks to reclaim a former abandoned industrial warehouse formally known as Terminal B and converting the building and site into a dynamic public space where the community can reconnect with nature, embrace active lifestyles, and enjoy a year-round destination along the waterfront edge.

The design team was commissioned by Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation to design an adaptive reuse of a 100,000 square-foot cold storage warehouse facility and surrounding waterfront site.  The transformation of the building was a complete inverse of the former program for this facility.  The question that was paramount for our team’s design to respond to was “How do you take a contaminated industrial site and transform this into an active public landscape.” Furthermore, how does the design team solve for the pragmatic concern of introducing a balanced ecological recovery while generating a human dimension - where the building and the site offer a vibrant, healthy and welcoming public destination.

Grounded in community engagement, the project prioritizes social interaction, recreation, and entertainment to enhance the well-being of residents and visitors alike.  A key design focus was preserving and celebrating Buffalo’s industrial heritage, creating a poetic sense of place that reflects the city’s cultural identity, history, and aesthetic traditions.  The result is a vibrant mixed-use venue, integrating an amphitheater and transforming the site into a park-like, pastoral setting.