Program Narrative:
The ‘AIRWALK’ project animates the NLDC development site by establishing a direct connection between the downtown New London waterfront and Fort Trumbull. By making use of the existing visual draw of the Fort Trumbull area (especially as viewed from downtown New London) and by accentuating the native qualities of the site that ordain its appeal, the project acts as a social stimulus to generate a large scale spatial connection through small scale personal interactions (in the form of individual experiences with the site and with other ‘users’ of the site).  While the program for the intervention engages the entire site to some degree, it does not prescribe permanent uses, and seeks to preserve the site’s potential for additional development in the future.  In addition, by acting as a link between downtown New London and the residential neighborhoods to the southwest, the project hopes to stimulate future development as the site gains appeal and is used by a more eclectic public sphere. 
The ‘AIRWALK’ project engages the site’s natural topography and vegetation to enhance the intrinsic sensation of unobtrusive, unforced, yet enigmatic enclosure that is produced by the gentle valleys topped with massive rock formations that poke up through the earth like icebergs breaching the surface of a rolling sea.  These gentle hills slope down, on the East, from Fort Trumbull, and on the West from the elevated train tracks, converging in an even more gently sloped plane that slowly recedes into the Thames to the Northwest, loosely framing an expansive view across the river of the New London and Groton waterfronts and skylines, linked by the towering I-95 bridge in the distance.

Design Narrative:
The design concept for the ‘AIRWALK’ project was primarily concerned with drawing new users to the site without remodeling, but rather embellishing the site’s native features.  The enveloping ridge of the gentle valley formed by the site’s topography served as the foundation for a progression of elevated ‘viewpoints’ that the design sought to engage.  The bike path portion of the design was to act as the new high-speed, direct, ‘green’ artery between downtown New London and the southwest neighborhoods that would stimulate use of the site simply by increasing its exposure and accessibility to a broader public.  The design of the elevated boardwalk was meant to serve a dual function: to enhance (and make accessible) the diversity of views offered by the site while also enclosing the depressed valley planes to increase the inherent sense of enclosure; and to act as the accessibility link between the Fort Trumbull site, and the artery connecting New London to the southwest neighborhoods.  The design of the footpaths meandering from the elevated boardwalk down to the waterfront was meant to expose the site’s natural topography and enhance the sensation of descending into an enclosed valley. Finally, the design of the beachfront was meant to serve as a ‘seasonal’ social draw for the site as well as tie the program of the entire design together.  The kinked pier was designed to imitate the elevated boardwalk by performing a similar dual function of exposing and embellishing the site’s expansive waterfront-skyline views, and of enclosing the beachfront portion of the site from the current of the Thames, expanding the sensation of womb-like comfort without sacrificing the visual connection to a broader spatial context.