NBW was commissioned by the Gateway Foundation to create a public garden for twenty-four contemporary sculptures in the heart of downtown St. Louis. The resulting three-acre Citygarden invites close engagement with art, water, and the region’s ecology, offering a place of refuge, play, and civic life. A network of integrated rain gardens captures and treats stormwater, while a predominantly native planting palette emphasizes seasonal change and challenges conventional ornamental approaches to public landscapes. Citygarden has become a catalyst for neighborhood reinvestment, drawing office workers, residents, and families into its dynamic spaces.
NBW led a collaborative effort with the Gateway Foundation, the City of St. Louis, the café architect, fountain consultants, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. The park is organized into three ecologically distinct precincts: the Upland, Floodplain, and Lowland. The Upland is defined by a 550-foot arcing wall of Missouri limestone, evoking river bluffs shaped by erosion, with a glass café perched above. The Floodplain features an interactive spray plaza with over 100 illuminated jets beneath a canopy of shade trees, encouraging playful interaction with both water and sculpture. The Lowland recalls agricultural patterns along the river’s oxbows through layered perennial and shrub plantings and a 1,150-foot meandering seat wall.
More recently, the City approved the decommissioning of a street that once divided the park. NBW seamlessly integrated the former roadway into Citygarden’s fabric, creating new spaces for gathering, art, and horticulture while coordinating infrastructure access with city agencies and utility providers.
