Heartwood Preserve is a 500-acre, mixed-use landscape in Omaha, Nebraska, that lies within a watershed repeatedly impacted by severe storm events and flooding. The site occupies a critical position in a regional watershed where intense weather has caused extensive environmental and economic damage. The project responds by treating stormwater management as a public amenity vs a technical requirement.
Hydrologic and site analysis informed a unique strategy that integrates flood mitigation, ecological restoration, and engaging civic spaces. At the core of the project is a system of fourteen site-specific detention basins — sculpted vessels — that collectively manage 170 acre-feet of stormwater. These basins are spread across 120 acres of linked greenways, which are privately owned yet fully accessible to the public. Together, they form a continuous landscape framework that supports a corporate campus, regional greenways, residential neighborhoods, commercial areas, and a collection of parks.
At Heartwood flood mitigation was paramount but the team saw an opportunity to create a unique cultural asset. Here we’ve reimagined climate change infrastructure and furthered the idea of what open space can and should be.
The design intent was to make the forces shaping the land visible and legible. Rather than standard retention ponds, each basin is a sculptural vessel shaped by its immediate context. Constructed through large-scale earthwork and lined with dry-stacked, native limestone, the basins establish a consistent material language across the site and allow for variation in form and experience.
Catch basins in each vessel are disguised by cairns. These conical landmarks contribute to Heartwood’s distinct visual language. The stone structures are meant to capture story — expressing natural events.
Installation methods prioritize durability, constructability and sustainability. Earthwork in concert with gravity-fed hydrology minimizes the need for mechanical devices. Limestone walls expand storage capacity, stabilize slopes, define edges, and conceal hydraulic infrastructure.
The project restores native prairie to rebuild soils while expanded wetlands and woodlands replenish aquifers and support biodiversity. More than 10,000 trees have been planted, supported by nurseries within the greenways. Trees removed during construction were repurposed as habitat totems, reinforcing a regenerative approach.
Public access and service to the community are central to Heartwood’s design. Over fourteen miles of universally accessible trails connect the site and link to Omaha’s regional trail system encouraging engagement with restored landscapes.
Heartwood Preserve demonstrates how climate adaptation and hazard mitigation can be executed as meaningful, site-specific landscape architecture. By uniting infrastructure, ecology, and experience within a cohesive built framework, the project offers a model for resilient public landscapes that serve both environmental and civic life.
Landscape architecture: Meyer Studio Land Architects
Photo credits: David Meyer, Grace Amundson, Erik Jensen, Dennis Hornacek
Other credits:
Client: Applied Underwriters
Civil Engineers: Lamp Rynearson
General Contractor: Meco-Henne Contracting Inc.
Landscape Contractor: S&N Landscape Design Inc.
Stone Mason: Linhart Construction
Year completed: Project has been completed in phases, with the first phase complete in 2020, and last phase(s) estimated to be completed by 2027
