Public Square

For LANDStudio and the Group Plan Commission, Field Operations has designed a vibrant new park for Cleveland’s Public Square. Opened June 2016, this 6-acre open space in the heart of Downtown dramatically reconfigures the once fragmented quadrants into a newly unified whole. Streets have been reorganized and connectivity to adjacent buildings has been emphasized. The new park promises a beautiful series of settings for people, programming, and diverse activities. The design creates a bold and iconic new identity to the Square, while addressing key challenges of unification, clarification, and activation. The design incorporates three unifying moves: • The Perimeter Gardens: First, the Perimeter Gardens: An allee of trees and elegantly sculpted planters frames the outer perimeter of the Square – and creates a green, tactile and seasonal threshold to the interior; • The Ribbon Promenade: A continuous loop of granite cobble paving becomes the primary line of movement through the Square; • The Civic Rooms: The interior of the Square is defined by two large-scale eventful and social spaces – the Event Lawn and Fountain Plaza. The Event Lawn is a gently sculpted lawn that sup-ports ever day uses like picnicking with its soft topography, as well as performances and events with its generous scale and south-facing orientation. The Fountain Plaza is open and flexible hardscape space that integrates the new Café Pavilion, the Mirror Fountain and the iconic Soldiers and Sailors Monument. “Knockout beautiful and unlike any other park in the city.” -- Steven Litt, Architecture Critic, The Cleveland Plain Dealer PROJECT LEAD, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, URBAN DESIGN, MASTER PLANNING: JAMES CORNER FIELD OPERATIONS James Corner, RLA, Founding Partner and Design Director Richard Kennedy, RLA, Principal-In-Charge Tsutomu Bessho, RLA, Senior Associate K. Veronica Rivera, Associate and Project Manager Sahar Moin, Associate Civil, Structural, and MEP Engineering: OSBORN engineering Joe Ferenczy, Engineering Project Manager Joe Goerndt , Civil Engineer Daniel Kelbach , Civil Engineer Sean Johnson, Electrical Engineer Jim Evans, Mechanical Engineer Sandy Iwasko, Structural Engineer Architecture: nArchitects Eric Bunge, Principal in charge Amanda Morgan, Project manager Water Feature Consultant: Fluidity Design Consultants Chinmoy Panigrahy, Project manager Matt Reichmuth, engineer Irrigation Consultants: FRS Design Group Dan Feick, irrigation consultant Soil Consultant: Sustainable Environmental Consultants Chuck Dixon, Soil scientist Traffic Engineering: Nelson / Nygaard David Fields, Principal in charge Iain Banks, Senior Associate General Contractor: Donley’s Construction Dan Gess, Senior Project Manager Josh Zielinski, Site Superintendent Credits: - James Corner Field Operations - Project Manager - Veronica Rivera - LANDstudio - Project Manager - Nora Romanoff