The Canopy - Part 2 Abundant Generosity

Detroit, Michigan | 2025-2026 | almost an acre

Lirio Ron Henderson, Erik Norwood

Collaborators Prince Concepts, EC3, Hall’s Family Farm

Trees 160 (Pinus strobus, Liriodendron tulipifera, Asimina triloba, Fagus grandifolia, Sassafras Albidum, Nyssa sylvatica, Hamamelis virginiana and various Hamamelis cultivars, Diospyros virginiana, Ginkgo biloba, Thuja occidentalis, Pinus bungeana, and conservation of large a Morus alba and a stand of Juglans nigra)

Prince Conepts founder, Philip Kafka, challenged LIRIO to celebrate “abundant generosity” with our design for the landscape. Over 160 trees and 16 taxa are planted over the site of almost one acre to establish a biodiverse and phenologically rich landscape.

LIRIO was invited as landscape architect to collaborate with Prince Concepts and EC3 on Part 2 of The Canopy, a 24-unit micro-neighborhood that reimagines conventional multifamily living in the Core City neighborhood of Detroit. Defined by a series of twelve duplexes and shared “tree gardens,” The Canopy’s first phase (five duplexes) opened in 2024 and its second phase (seven duplexes), was completed in 2026.

The architectural massing of The Canopy frames a N-S shared central linear passage across the two sites and a sequence of small, casually-defined patios for each duplex. At The Canopy - Part 2, LIRIO established a “coniferous corridor" along this shared linear passage with a segmented common concrete sidewalk, referred to as the “train-wreck-path,” that shifts orientation to creatively solve and enliven both privacy and shared access. A series of “tree gardens” that pair one canopy tree species and one understory tree species establish a series of distinct front door vestibules and courtyards.