Master Planning

The returning marsh

Location: Sausalito, California, United States
Year: 2026
Type: Master Planning
Status: Concept master plan; not built

Rendered master plan of Horseshoe Cove: the historic parade ground inland, the restored marsh and promenade along the head of the cove, and the piers reaching into the bay

01 / Overview

A master plan for the waterfront of Fort Baker, a former army post on Horseshoe Cove just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The marsh that was filled in 1903 comes back, the cars move back from the water's edge, and the bay opens to the people who come to it.

Services · Site inventory and analysis, Precedent studies, Concept design, Master planning, Marsh restoration and planting design, Stormwater and green infrastructure, Parking and circulation planning, Hardscape and planting palettes

The site

Fort Baker sits on Horseshoe Cove, directly north of the Golden Gate Bridge: 335 acres that were an army post from 1897 and passed to the National Park Service in 2002. The central valley is organised around the historic parade ground, and the batteries and roads of the coastal defences still set its structure. In 1903 the marsh at the head of the cove was filled to make usable land, raising the ground by up to about 12 feet. The waterfront stands on that fill today: made ground, a retaining wall in poor condition, and an edge exposed to sea-level rise.

Site conditions plan of Fort Baker: the parade ground and buildings in the valley, the batteries and hillsides around it, sensitive habitat, and the fishing pier, marina and tidal beach on Horseshoe Cove — Site conditions.

Vegetation and habitat

The hillsides carry grassland, coyote bush scrub with sage, broom and pockets of oak woodland, with planted Monterey pine, Monterey cypress and eucalyptus. Bluffs and estuarine edges ring the cove, and eelgrass grows in its shallows.

Vegetation map of the site with numbered zones: grassland, broom, coyote bush, oak woodland, planted pine, cypress and eucalyptus, estuarine bluffs, and eelgrass in the cove — Vegetation and habitat.

Slopes and water

Rain on the ridgeline runs down the slopes in a set of small watersheds that gather towards the head of the cove, where the parking lots are, and the runoff drains untreated into the bay.

Hydrology map on a shaded terrain model: blue flow lines run from the ridgeline down the slopes to the head of Horseshoe Cove — Hydrology and watersheds.

What the analysis found

About three visitors in four arrive by car. The site has 660 parking spaces, all free and all asphalt, and on summer weekend afternoons the overflow spills onto the roads and blocks the routes shared by pedestrians, cyclists and emergency vehicles. There is no shade over any of the main lots. Cars park right at the water's edge and block the view of the bay. At low tide people already use the shore as an informal beach, and the fishing pier is one of the site's main draws. The parade ground is historic and stays as it is.

Site analysis synthesis plan with red notes around the parade ground, the hillsides, the main roads and the waterfront, and arrows marking runoff and views — Site analysis synthesis.

First concepts

The first concepts tested how far the waterfront could change. They turned the waterfront parking into a promenade, redesigned the fishing pier for more visitors, reinforced the retaining wall, and added a beach, restrooms and a plaza leading down to the water, with one main visitor lot at the Bunker Road entry and a lot kept near the marina dock. Some ideas were dropped along the way: a reclaimed parking area on the waterfront would have been very unlikely to be approved under federal and state protections, and valet parking around the parade ground did not suit its historic setting. Precedents informed the next step: Crissy Field in San Francisco, Charleston Waterfront Park, and the permeable parking at the Morton Arboretum.

Hand-drawn concept plan over the site, with notes in red and blue around the parade ground, the parking and the waterfront — Concept exploration.

The concept revisited

The revised concept keeps the parade ground unchanged and gives the head of the cove back to water and people: a tidal marsh with coastal dune, a viewing pier, a redesigned fishing pier, a kayak ramp, water-access stairs, berms, and an open space with a plaza and native plant garden, with parking kept near the marina dock.

Revised concept plan in colour: the parade ground, the marsh at the head of the cove, parking areas, the viewing and fishing piers and the marina — Concept revisited.

Bringing the marsh back

The idea is to bring the marsh back and open the bay to the community. The restoration is an earthwork strategy as much as planting: remove part of the fill, regrade the tidal section, reconnect the bay, then let sediment, tides and native vegetation rebuild the marsh over time.

Plan of Horseshoe Cove comparing the existing shoreline in red with the proposed shoreline as a dashed line, and the areas of fill between them — The shoreline: existing edge, proposed edge and the fill between them.

The marsh

Planting follows the tide. Eelgrass at the subtidal edge, open mudflat with Pacific cordgrass at the lowest intertidal zone, pickleweed in the middle marsh, and marsh gumplant and saltgrass in the high marsh.

Plan of the restored marsh at the head of the cove, banded from mudflat through low and middle marsh to high marsh, crossed by footpaths — The marsh, banded by tidal elevation.

Runoff and the marsh

The marsh also does the site's stormwater work. Runoff from the ridgeline is split into small catchments, slowed on the slopes with erosion-control planting, collected at the toe of the slope, and held in the marsh, which detains, infiltrates and filters it before it reaches the bay.

3D terrain model of the site in red with blue flow lines showing how runoff from the ridgeline gathers towards the cove, with notes on catchments and the toe of the slope — How runoff moves across the site, from the ridgeline down to the cove.

The master plan

The master plan draws it together: the restored marshland at the head of the cove, a promenade along the water, a viewing pier and the fishing pier, an artificial beach and a kayak ramp, a green area with lawn and berms, and an open space with a native plant garden. The historic parade ground, Yellow Bluff and Battery Yates stay as landmarks, and trails connect the waterfront to the hillsides.

Rendered master plan of the whole site: the hillsides and batteries, the oval parade ground and its buildings, the restored marsh, the promenade and the piers around Horseshoe Cove — Rendered master plan.

The waterfront

The parking at the water's edge becomes a promenade for walking, sitting and looking out. A viewing pier and a redesigned fishing pier take more people onto the water, with water-access steps, a kayak ramp and a beach where visitors already gather at low tide.

Parking

Parking is reorganised into 555 spaces, down from 660, with family and accessible parking close to the waterfront and a lot kept near the marina dock. The plan moves from building more parking to managing it: paid parking could fund a frequent shuttle to and within the site.

Walking and cycling

Better pedestrian, cycle and shuttle links make it possible to arrive without a car, and a clear separation of routes keeps walkers, cyclists and emergency vehicles apart.

Pedestrian circulation plan: footpaths in thin lines around the parade ground, down to the promenade and out along the piers — Pedestrian circulation.

Green infrastructure

The lots are laid in permeable interlocking pavers. Bioswales, culverts and retention gardens carry and hold the runoff, and a seasonal riparian buffer is planted with native sedges and shrubs such as Pacific wax myrtle, creek dogwood and toyon.

Sections

Three section cuts run across the site. This one runs from the hillside batteries across the marsh to Horseshoe Bay.

Site section from the hillside batteries across the marsh to Horseshoe Bay, with people on the promenade shown above — Section 3: hillside, marsh and bay.

What was delivered

Site inventory and analysis; concept explorations and precedent studies; illustrative and rendered master plans and an enlarged plan of the waterfront; shoreline, marsh, circulation, parking and stormwater plans; three site sections; planting and hardscape material boards; and perspective views of the design model.

Aerial view of the design model: orange building blocks, lawns and piers at the head of the cove, with the white massing of the hills behind — Render of the design model.

The lawn and berms with paths leading down to the waterfront and the piers — Render of the design model.

Aerial view over the marsh terraces and the piers, with buildings in the foreground — Render of the design model.

View across the water to the piers and the marsh, with the hills beyond — Render of the design model.

A visitor walks along a timber pier with steel handrails over the water, with the marsh and a second pier beyond — The viewing pier. Render of the design model.

Aerial view of the plaza and native plant garden, with the marsh and the piers beyond — Render of the design model.

A grassed berm looking out towards the pier and the bay — Render of the design model.

People sitting on a grassed berm above the promenade, with the viewing pier and the bay beyond — The lawn and berms above the waterfront. Render of the design model.

Credits

All images are drawings and renders of the design model, not photographs. The scheme has not been built.

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