Stephen Whitehouse

Principal

Stephen is a landscape architect and urban planner whose diverse pursuits share a concern for the environmental quality and social vitality of places. He formerly served as Chief of Planning for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, where he managed the expansion of the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows and launched the City’s Greenway system. Since co-founding Starr Whitehouse with Laura Starr, he has worked with public and private clients to create dynamic urban districts and engaging landscapes that connect people to nature.

Rather than focusing on a single aspect of the work, he’s always been most fascinated by the juncture points. “Natural systems, patterns of settlement, infrastructure – seeing all these come together to make a place is interesting to me, not just as abstract concepts,” he says, “but in terms of seeing good results at the end.” He describes his role in terms of junctures as well. “I’m the translator,” he says. “I serve as the mediator between the specialists and the public. I like communicating with people, and seeing things shaped by the creative interactions of people and institutions.”

Representative Projects: 

Park Design 

Bear Mountain Restoration, Bear Mountain, NY
Southwest Resiliency Park and Park Expansion, Hoboken, NJ
Bushwick Inlet Park, Brooklyn, NY
Dinosaur Playground Restoration, Riverside Park, New York, NY
Hart Island Master Plan, Long Island Sound, NY
Freshkills South Park, Staten Island, NY
Roswell River Parks, Roswell, GA
Hamlin Beach State Park, Hamlin, NY
Scout Park, Hamlin, NY
Manhattan Greenway Harlem River Waterfront Park, New York, NY
Harlem River Greenway Link Study, New York, NY
Starlight Park Bronx River House, Bronx, NY
Governors Island Park Planning and Design, New York Harbor
As Chief of Planning for NYC Parks, oversaw expansion of the USTA National
Tennis Center, NYC Greenway Implementation, and open space mitigation
for major development projects such as Riverside South and Queens West

Streets, Public Realm, and Infrastructure

Tibbetts Brook Daylighting, Bronx, NY
Destination Greenways! Leif Ericson Park to Verrazzano Bridge, Brooklyn, NY
Union Square Streetscape and Lighting Plan, New York, NY
Georgia Tech North Avenue Gateway Vision, Atlanta, GA
Empire State Trail Gateway Design Guidelines and Implementation, NYS
Brooklyn Bridge Esplanade and Get-down, New York, NY
Water Street: A New Approach, New York, NY
Brooklyn Queens Expressway Enhancement Study, Brooklyn, NY
Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership Streetscape Master Plan, New York, NY
Times Square “Bowtie” Study, New York, NY

Climate Resilience and Planning

East Shore Shoreline Parks Resilience Plan, Staten Island, NY
Rebuild by Design: The Big U, New York, NY
Mayors Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency, Staten Island, NY
GreenThumb Community Gardens Irrigation Plan and EIS, New York, NY
NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection, Long Term Control Plan for CSO’s

Large Scale Site Plans + Housing

Compass Residences Affordable Housing, Bronx, NY
Greenpoint Terminal Market Master Plan, Brooklyn, NY
Gowanus Green, Brooklyn, NY