Case Study: The Office of James Burnett achieves an award-winning, community-building Lakeshore East park with Vectorworks

The Park at Lakeshore East: A Place to Stroll, Linger, and Play

The Office of James Burnett (OJB), an award-winning landscape architecture firm, was hired to program and deliver the six‑acre Park at Lakeshore East as the focal point of a $4 billion, 28‑acre mixed‑use master plan in downtown Chicago. The challenge was to create a high‑end, residential “front yard” that would be built early in the development to secure city approvals, attract buyers and tenants, and seamlessly connect surrounding high‑rises, commercial space and retail on a tight schedule.

OJB worked closely with the master planner and developer to design a series of connected park “rooms” — expansive lawns, botanical gardens, water features, playground, dog park and event spaces — documented from concept through construction using Vectorworks Landmark. The park’s rich plant palette (hundreds of trees and 100+ plant varieties), careful materials palette and early completion set the tone for the development: park‑facing units sold out first, the park became the neighborhood heart hosting markets and festivals, and the project earned multiple national and local design awards.

Office of James Burnett

Kyle Fiddelke

Principal and Landscape Architect