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.