The Doncaster Lakeside Master Plan creates a 50-acre lake as a shared central focus for a new business district, residential community, open space, and recreation facilities. A critical component of the design concept was the lake, which is not only an amenity but was used as a resource to provide fill material to bring marshy land to the south to above flood level.

Project Facts

Completion Year: 2002
Site Area: 300 acres

Based on a strong and compelling vision, SOM’s infrastructure master plan successfully transformed this former airfield and municipal trash dump into a mixed-use development arranged around a newly-created central lake.

The infrastructure design provides for the roads, foot and cycle paths, services and utilities, street furniture and lighting, and high-quality structured landscape, which acts as the framework for the site’s build-out by individual tenants, developers, and agencies. Design guidelines control density, setbacks, building height, parking requirements, and landscape provisions, and also define principles of shared maintenance.

The design concept includes a landscape scheme, which provides a usable and visual amenity for visitors and residents, as well as shelter from cross winds. A high-quality landscaped boulevard encircles the lake and connects to the surrounding road network. Decontaminated trash, poor quality soils from within the site, and excess fill from the lake excavation were used to form a large earth mound, which contributes a unique feature to the extensively landscaped park.