Virginia’s Ballpark at Diamond Lake

Torti Gallas was part of a development team submission to bring baseball back to the Nation’s Capital.  This new town context offers baseball the simultaneous advantages of a center city site – a vibrant mix of uses and round-the-clock activity; and the advantages of a suburban site – baseball-favorable demographics, growth potential, and available land.  Located within the fastest growing county in the United States, Diamond Lake is adjacent to an international airport and a planned metro rail station within walking distance.  

Diamond Lake is a large, vibrant town. The streets are of similar size, dimension, and character to streets in large American cities like New York and Washington, DC.  These are streets that people live, work, and play on.  Streetscapes are carefully crafted with street trees, wide sidewalks for cafés, parallel parking with parking meters.  The streets are designed for the daily vehicle and pedestrian traffic of the town, yet accommodate greater loads on game day.  The large number of vehicular access points to and from the site prevents streets from being over designed.

The town is built around a Liberty Park containing Diamond Lake. It is a town of three neighborhoods; the “Battery” neighborhood, centered on the boulevard and the square in front of the baseball stadium; the “Left Field” neighborhood, centered on the retail promenade and waterfront square overlooking the lake; and the “Right Field” neighborhood, a residential neighborhood that lies to the east of the lake.  From the residential squares to the retail promenades and boardwalks, Liberty Park to Diamond Boulevard, the square in front of the stadium to the festival streets that lead away from it, the plan is a rich and wonderful matrix of streets and spaces.