a place to gather + play
The Shed at Valade Park
The Detroit Riverwalk is a vital public space that connects the city’s communities to the riverfront, offering recreational, cultural, and social opportunities while revitalizing the waterfront and enhancing the city’s urban landscape. Robert C. Valade Park honors the late Detroit native and former CEO of Carhartt, Mary Valade. The family-friendly urban park brings a playground, floating barge, and shed pavilion to the riverfront. . The park completes a series of family-oriented parks along the Detroit Riverwalk, each located approximately a 10-minute walk from each other.
vision
The design honors Detroit’s manufacturing heritage with exposed steel and rugged textures, blending industrial charm with modern aesthetics. Positioned parallel to the Detroit River, the Shed is designed to permit views through the building by utilizing large, glass overhead doors. While in use, the building becomes a modern pavilion, allowing for accessible access to the riverfront and adjacent park playground.
detail
The Shed pavilion provides an all-season event space with full-service kitchen, restrooms, and space for a pop-up restaurant. The park features a sandy beach with flexible seating and umbrellas, a children’s musical garden, colorful playscapes inspired by lifeguard stations and Bob’s Barge, Detroit’s only floating bar. Seasonal events make the park a year-round amenity to the community and riverfront.
secret
Formerly known as Atwater Beach, the Robert C. Valade Park project has transformed an industrial site along the Detroit Riverfront into an urban park and pavilion structure that people of all ages enjoy. The revitalization added 30 trees, 60 shrubs, and 36,000 square feet of lawn to the riverfront while preserving 20 trees from the original parcel. Most recently, the 3.2-acre parcel was used as a Coast Guard buoy storage yard and a cement factory.
