ONE City Plaza | Greenville, South Carolina | Civitas

ONE-City-Plaza.-photo-by-Fish-Eye-Studios
Image Credit | Fish Eye Studios

“It’s gem-like in a gem-like city,” says Mark Johnson, founding principal of Civitas about the new ONE City Plaza in Greenville, South Carolina. The project’s simple elements – including urban sofas, trees, water and shade structure – combine for maximum impact in creating an outdoor experience that attracts pedestrians for shopping, dining or just strolling in the city’s central downtown district.

ONE-City-Plaza.-photo-by-
Image Credit | Civitas Inc

Civitas designed the project in collaboration with Bob Hughes of Hughes Development Corp., 4240 Architects, and the City of Greenville, including Mike Murphy, Director of Public Works, and Dwayne Cooper, Engineering Services Manager, who were instrumental in getting approval on material upgrades that have contributed to the transformed urban space’s success.

The completed project references Greenville’s textile industry history through weaving, layers and folds, both in its overall plan and in the fabric-like canopies that artfully provide shade. At the same time, the elegant simplicity of the design and palette, including the stainless steel sun shades and the granite pavers underfoot, “match the sophistication of Greenville’s growing creative and tech community,” says Johnson.

At a spring dedication and ribbon cutting, Mayor Knox White praised the redesigned plaza as one of the city’s “great places.” The $5 million renovation of ONE City Plaza and the pedestrian Laurens Street helped attract a number of retailers to the area. “With ONE City Plaza, downtown Greenville really joins the big leagues of retail centers in our region,” said White.

Before the Civitas redesign, the area had been called the Piazza Bergamo – named for Greenville’s Italian sister city from the Eisenhower era. The piazza, created in the early ‘80s, was home to events and concerts for 25 years, but in recent years had become worn, with concerts devolving into weekly loud beer parties. A Civitas-led community engagement process highlighted a desire for a more restrained, comfortable and attractive plaza for daily use for downtown workers and visitors alike, with the potential for occasional smaller events.

While Civitas is known for its major urban projects that transform entire cities, “It’s not the scale of a project that draws us,” says Johnson of the smaller-scale Greenville plaza renovation, “but rather the opportunity to make cities

ONE-City-Plaza.-photo-by-Civitas-Inc
Image Credit | Civitas Inc

Civitas designs ONE City Plaza in Greenville, South Carolina

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Damian Holmes is the Founder and Editor of World Landscape Architecture (WLA). He is a registered landscape architect (AILA) working in international design practice in Australia. Damian founded WLA in 2007 to provide a website for landscape architects written by landscape architects. Connect on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianholmes/