COMMUNITY CROSSROADS
This design concept creates Arboretum San Antonio as a place of convening and connecting people, to each other and to nature. This happens through educational, recreational, and cultural programming, always with ties to trees and the land. The grounds become a hub serving the broader public, hosting a local farmers market, growing trees to support urban forestry across the city, event centers for concerts and family events, places for community meetings, and offices for non-profit partners and collaborators. These architectural programs are integrated into the wider arboretum, where trails, playgrounds, and interactive exhibits immerse visitors into nature as a learning landscape. Health and wellness are emphasized throughout, with the network of recreational trails and fitness stations available to the public. Access to local food, fitness, heat refuge in public facilities, play, and socializing events together makes Aroberetum San Antonio a place that grows trees AND community.
Accessible Playground
Community Crossroads is a place of convening and connecting people to each other and nature.
Community Crossroads envisions Arboretum San Antonio equally balanced as a cultural and environmental institution. This scheme includes the most architecture, the most complex network of pathways and connectivity, and the greatest opportunity to create space for a diversity of partnerships and revenue streams.
Sculpture Garden
Outdoor Amphitheatre
Kayak Dock
Community Crossroads organizes the Arboretum around four program focus hubs and creates a series of dynamic shared path loops that interconnect these hubs with the larger diversity of gardens and natural areas.
Tree Nursery
Event Center
Partner Museum
Artist & Writer Studios
Community Crossroads features the most extensive road and program networks, creating decentralized parking nodes specific to the amenities and trailheads. In this design, Salado Creek is improved and cleaned. The existing irrigation pond is expanded and enlarged to provide water activity. Tree and plant collections are organized by cultural associations, including edible and medicinal, or ceremonial uses.
Canopy Walk
