Windsor has spent decades building a beautiful, continuous riverfront park system.
Festival Plaza will expand this park system.
To accomplish this, Festival Plaza must be connected, accessible, and integrated with its surroundings
Site Strategies
Connectivity
Access
Festival Plaza will add 3 new pedestrian connections to the City
The landscape plays a critical role in expanding the programming potential at Festival Plaza by making the site more flexible, varied, and expandable. It’s also critical to make the site more comfortable by introducing plants and trees for shading and cooling.
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Site Stratagies
Layout Studies 1
Layout Studies 2
The Lawn
The lawn is a 20,000 sqft (0.45 acre) flat open space designed to accommodate passive uses, recurring or ad-hoc recreational activities, as well as special programming and sponsored events through all seasons. It can also be used as part of larger, site-wide events during festivals.
Passive Uses
Relax. Play. Enjoy.
Activation
Small to medium sized events
Building on History
Festival Plaza’s landscape concept is inspiried by flows of the Detroit River and the 31 islands that have been formed over time.
Building on History
Festival Plaza’s landscape concept is inspiried by flows of the Detroit River and the 31 islands that have been formed over time.
The Islands create an animated, dynamic, and diverse experience that encourages visitors to meander through the landscape while views of the Detroit skyline gradually reveal themselves. It encourages people to slow down, perhaps change course, and be welcomed in to Festival Plaza.
The Islands feature berms and wetlands, and are extensively planted. They provide a number of uses for the site, including integrated seating, extensive shade, and on-site stormwater management.
Landscape Explorations
Islands - Look & Feel
Landscape Explorations
Islands - Look & Feel
Island Details
Wetland
Sunken rain garden that collects and filters site stormwater with indigenous wetland vegetation
Berms
The strategically located berms create a dynamic experience that encourages visitors to meander through the landscape while views of the Detroit skyline gradually reveal themselves. The berms feature meadow grasses, flowering perennials and shade trees.
Bridge
A steel grate bridges over the wetland catchment areas to enable visitors to feel immerse within these lush, performative landscapes.
The Islands are an example of how Festival Plaza will balance hard and soft-scape, and accommodate infrastructure in a park setting. Operationally, the islands create the potential to keep the Riverfront Trail open during events, as only small areas between the islands require fences or access control.
Download the pdf for more information
DownloadPART 3:
Landscape
To view the content for Part 3 please visit this site on a desktop computer or tablet device, or visit our Instagram or Facebook pages for more information.
