Estates Drive Reservoir

Oakland, California

Designed by Robert Royston

“…Royston offered a new way of looking at the environment, relating studies of color, form, space, massing and movement…”
- Peter Walker and Melanie Simo, Invisible Gardens (1994)

Since 1966, residents of Oakland’s Montclair neighborhood have enjoyed the Robert Royston-designed Estates Drive Reservoir for its tranquility and recreational value.

Royston combined functionality with an abstract Modernist aesthetic in his design of the technologically-innovative cover for an open-cut reservoir. Today, neighbors are fighting to preserve Royston’s design in the face of plans by the East Bay Municipal Utilities District to replace the existing reservoir with two large concrete water storage tanks.

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Courtesy Valerie Garry

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education partners

Additional Sponsors

American Society of Landscape Architects’ Indiana, Pennsylvania/Delaware, Minnesota, Northern California, Texas, Upstate New York, and Washington Chapters • Astorino • Charles Butt • Design Within Reach • Topher Delaney • Sandy Donnell & Justin Faggioli • Fathom • Tom Fox • Hillman Foundation • Indianapolis Museum of Art • Lorraine Osmundson • Richard T. Murphy • National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Northeast, Southwest, and Western Offices- with funds from the Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation of New York, Dodge Jones Foundation Intervention Fund, and Eastern Massachusetts Preservation Fund • James Richards • Seibert & Rice • Diana & Bruce Shuman • Ann Stack • SWA Group • TBG Partners • Michal and Jeffrey William Tincup • Unilock Inc. • The Woltz Charitable Trust


Estates Drive Reservoir Oakland, California Designed by Robert Royston Intro history threat help learn “…Royston offered a new way of looking at the environment, relating studies of color, form, space, massing and movement…” - Peter Walker and Melanie Simo, Invisible Gardens (1994) Since 1966, residents of Oakland’s Montclair neighborhood have enjoyed the Robert Royston-designed Estates Drive Reservoir for its tranquility and recreational value. Royston combined functionality with an abstract Modernist aesthetic in his design of the technologically-innovative cover for an open-cut reservoir. Today, neighbors are fighting to preserve Royston’s design in the face of plans by the East Bay Municipal Utilities District to replace the existing reservoir with two large concrete water storage tanks. more... Courtesy Valerie Garry	Boston City Hall Plaza Boston, Massachusetts Estates Drive Reservoir Oakland, California Heritage Plaza Heritage Park Fort Worth, Texas Kaiser Roof Garden Kaiser Center Oakland, California Lake Elizabeth Allegheny Commons Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Manhattan Square Park Rochester, New York Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks Kent, Washington Miller Garden Columbus, Indiana El Monte Hato Rey, Puerto Rico Pacific Science Center Courtyard Seattle, Washington Parkmerced San Francisco, California Peavey Plaza Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, Minnesota Home \| Map \| Exhibit \| Artists \| Press
education partners Additional Sponsors American Society of Landscape Architects’ Indiana, Pennsylvania/Delaware, Minnesota, Northern California, Texas, Upstate New York, and Washington Chapters • Astorino • Charles Butt • Design Within Reach • Topher Delaney • Sandy Donnell & Justin Faggioli • Fathom • Tom Fox • Hillman Foundation • Indianapolis Museum of Art • Lorraine Osmundson • Richard T. Murphy • National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Northeast, Southwest, and Western Offices- with funds from the Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation of New York, Dodge Jones Foundation Intervention Fund, and Eastern Massachusetts Preservation Fund • James Richards • Seibert & Rice • Diana & Bruce Shuman • Ann Stack • SWA Group • TBG Partners • Michal and Jeffrey William Tincup • Unilock Inc. • The Woltz Charitable Trust