Public Plazas

Public plazas: they’re not streets and they’re not exactly parks either. Public plazas are a unique form of public open space that serves a unique purpose. Like parks, they provide breathing room within a tight grid of narrow streets. But unlike parks they are typically more architectural in form and contain fewer plantings. As such, they tend to better facilitate—perhaps even encourage—direct human interaction. Plazas can be big or small. They can be filled with design elements or left open or even empty. They come in all shapes and sizes and accommodate all types of uses, from sitting back and watching people go by to hosting rock concerts or farmers markets. While there is no single recipe for creating a successful urban plaza, there are critically important design guidelines to observe. Designers should pay close attention to how the space is used and to the types of uses the surrounding environment supports and encourages. NV5’s urban landscape architects are experts at observing existing environmental conditions and patterns of human use and translating them into designed spaces that people can enjoy.

Coney Island Boardwalk / W. 10th St. “Street-End” Plaza

NYCEDC/DPR - Brooklyn, NY

NV5 designed a gracious, new urban plaza where the street meets the historic Coney Island boardwalk. This is the primary access point for pedestrians en route to the boardwalk and beach for which Coney Island is famous. The plaza steps up 8 feet to the raised boardwalk through a series of curved steps and landings flanked by raised planters and offering a variety of seating opportunities.

Fordham-Kingsbridge Plaza (“Bryan Park”)

NYCDDC/DOT/DPR + Fordham Road Business Improvement District - Bronx, NY

Following the completion of a streetscape master plan for Fordham Road, NV5 prepared a design to reconstruct a triangular traffic island called Bryan Park located at the intersection of Fordham Road and Kingsbridge Road. The design reclaims underutilized roadway space to double the size of the park, turning it into a spacious and lush public plaza and neighborhood gathering place.

SUSTAINABLE FEATURES

Porous Pavers + Rain Gardens + Recycled Materials

La Plaza de las Americas

NYCDOT/DDC - New York, NY

NV5 redesigned West 175th Street between Broadway and Wadsworth Avenue, closing the street and turning it into a new public plaza that features a bosque of trees, pedestrian lighting, benches, drinking fountain, bicycle racks, decorative permeable paving, and Silva-Cel tree planting system. The centerpiece is a public art piece that is a fountain adorned with glass tile mosaics

SUSTAINABLE FEATURES

Porous Pavers + Silva-Cel Tree Planting System

NYCDDC/DOT/DPR - Queens, NY

NV5 designed a new urban plaza located directly adjacent to the 104th Street station on the Number 7 subway line (Roosevelt Avenue) in Queens, NY. This project will close a one block long section of street to connect the plaza with the adjacent sidewalk and the stores that front it. The proposed design defines several distinct spaces that may be used simultaneously for quiet seating, entertainment, and farmers markets. Large planters filled with trees and flowering shrubs and seat walls are combined with fixed and moveable seating, a newsstand, public toilets, a concession stand, and an information kiosk to activate the space.

SUSTAINABLE FEATURES

Porous Pavers + Rain Gardens + Recycled Materials + Street Trees

Roberto Clemente State Park Main Entrance Plaza

NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation - Bronx, NY

Through an ongoing term agreement for multi-disciplinary services, NV5 designed a beautiful new entrance plaza to Roberto Clemente State Park, located on the banks of the Harlem River. The plaza receives guests and visitors arriving by foot, train or car and directs them either into the main administration and activities building or down a new ramp and staircase to the park. The plaza features a unique paving pattern of colored concrete and decorative pavers, places to sit and both raised and at-grade planters filled with trees and flowers. The design focuses the eye on the panoramic view of the park, the river, and the bluffs of Highbridge Park in Manhattan in the distance. Shade is provided by a custom designed pergola.