Places and Insights  /  Community + Public Spaces  /  Downtown Plaza

A Downtown Plaza is a public open space near a city center designed to be a hub of human interactivity.  Providing opportunities for humanized connections through fun, play, art, exploration, and interaction; the plaza stimulates activity and creates magnetic downtown areas that sustain people, economies, and infrastructures.

1. An engaging art installation is designed as the focal point of the downtown plaza and invites activity from adults and children of all ages. Interactive art 'steps' invite exploration and slowly change colors and patterns as people climb, move, and play.
2. Lawn pads provide an open, nature-rich space to encourage picnics, play, and relaxation.
3. Milenio benches provide generous seating areas which face inward to support small group conversations or outward to support people watching. Strips of greenery divide the large plaza into zones to create scaled 'islands' that welcome lunch breaks and socialization.
4. GO OutdoorTables with canopies and Chipman stools promote spontaneous interaction and gatherings, and the ability to power devices on the spot.
5. Pedestrian lighting enables round the clock use of the plaza space.
6. Loop bike racks support healthy practices and alternative transit options by providing secure bike storage. This also invites plaza use by riders coming from a greater distance.
7. Sentinel bollards define the edges of the plaza for vehicular traffic.
8. Litters provide attractive options to conceal and recycle waste.
9. Lena planters provide tree shade cover for one end of the plaza.
10. Outdoor charging stations adjacent to benches provide convenient access to power and USB charging.