The plan­ners were origi­nally invited to design a pavi­lion for a new pier in southwest Manhattan.

Little Island is a new public park in New York that shel­ters three new perfor­mance venues on the Hudson River. Desi­gned as a haven for people and wild­life, it is a green oasis, held above the water by sculp­tural plan­ters, and located just a short walk across a gang­plank from Manhattan’s Lower West Side.

Heather­wick Studio was initi­ally invited by phil­an­thro­pist Barry Diller and the Hudson River Park Trust to create a pavi­lion for a new pier off the south-west of Manhattan. Instead of desig­ning a deco­ra­tive object to sit in the Hudson River Park, the design team saw an oppor­tu­nity to rethink what a pier could be.

It’s about the exci­te­ment of being above the water and the feeling of leaving the city behind and dipping into the green.

The starting point was not the struc­ture, but the expe­ri­ence for visi­tors: the exci­te­ment of being over the water, the feeling of leaving the city behind and being immersed in gree­nery – inspired by Central Park, where it’s possible to forget that you are in the midst of the most densely popu­lated city in the United States.

Piers were tradi­tio­nally flat to allow boats to dock, but did they have to be? In contrast to the flat streets of Manhattan, the design team wanted to create a new topo­graphy for the city, which could rise up to shape a variety of spaces.

The idea of raising the park on its foun­da­tions came from the exis­ting wooden piles in the water, remnants of the many piers that used to extend from the shore­line of Manhattan. Beneath the visible tips of the wood, the piles have become an important habitat for marine life and are a protected bree­ding ground for fish.

At Little Island, the poles become the deck: they merge into plan­ters that connect to each other and form the park’s surface.

Heather­wick Studio envi­saged the pier as a complete expe­ri­ence; a single, cohe­sive object, rather than unre­lated elements stuck toge­ther. Instead of sticks holding up a deck, the piles become the deck – they extend into plan­ters that join toge­ther to create the park’s surface. The height of the piles varies to create the park’s contours: the corner of the pier is lifted to allow sunlight to reach the marine habitat, and the edge falls to define hills, view­points and to carve out a natural amphi­theatre for perfor­mances. In this way, the pier and its supporting struc­ture are one.

The plan­ters, or ‘pots’ are filled with more than a hundred diffe­rent species of indi­ge­nous trees and plants, which encou­rage biodi­ver­sity and are able to thrive in New York’s climate – each corner of the island repres­ents a diffe­rent micro­cli­mate.

The amphi­theatre stage offers sunsets over the Hudson River, inclu­ding views of the Statue of Liberty.

To empha­sise the feeling of escape, Little Island’s foot­print sits in the middle of the water between piers 54 and 56. Access is via two acces­sible ‘gang­planks’, and oriented in a conti­nua­tion of the street grid. Inside, paths wind through trees and grassy seating areas to hidden, unex­pected views.

Resto­ring the enter­tain­ment venue that was lost when Pier 54 fell into disre­pair, the park inte­grates three perfor­mance spaces. On the furthest edge, shel­tered by the hills and surroun­ding trees, is an acou­sti­cally-opti­mised 700-seat amphi­theatre with natural stone seating – ist stage is set against the spec­ta­cular back­drop of sunset over the Hudson River and views of the Statue of Liberty.

With its unique mix of venues and park­land, Little Island is a true oasis in the pace of Manhattan.

There are roughly 400 diffe­rent species of trees, shrubs, grasses and peren­nials throug­hout Little Island and at least 100 diffe­rent species of trees through the park that are suited to the New York climate. Each corner of the island repres­ents a diffe­rent micro­cli­mate depen­ding on the topo­graphy, sun expo­sure and wind patterns.

With its unique mix of venues and park­land, Little Island is a pause in the pace of Manhattan; a place where New Yorkers and visi­tors can cross the river to lie under a tree, watch a perfor­mance, catch the sunset and feel connected to the water and natural world.