An international jury today named the winners of the National Mall Competition, which will remake three neglected sites on the grand expanse often referred to as ‘America’s Front Lawn’. Rogers Marvel Architects & Peter Walker and Partners will redesign Constitution Gardens, east of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial while OLIN & Weiss/Manfredi will remake the Sylvan Theatre, southeast of the Washington Monument. The winning design for Union Square, by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and Davis Brody Bond, will be forwarded to the Architect of the Capitol.

The competition was held to update the National Mall grounds to visually connect the monuments located there and also to provide visitors more choices for entertainment and relaxation. The winning designs were selected by a jury of eight, which narrowed the initial field of 58 entries to 4 finalists each for the three designated areas. Finalist designs were then placed on display in early April for public comment.

The entire project is estimated at about $700m. Groundbreaking for the first project will take place by 2014 with the first ribbon-cutting ceremony expected to take place by 2016. The next step is for the Trust to being fundraising for the two projects. The Architect of the Capitol will handle fundraising for Union Square separately.