Creating A Plaza For The Cultural District
by Kevin Buchanan
The area shown in the red circle above is the subject in question - as part of the Museum Place development, a public plaza is will be constructed at the reworked intersection of West 7th Street and Arch Adams (Map). How can a plaza occupy the middle of a street? Read on and find out - it’s an interesting bit of urban design.
The problem is thus - how to create a large public space in the development, while not taking too much room from the buildings themselves? You could certainly close off a street to do so, but you’d have to close off a smaller street, and it’s likely to be too out-of-the-way to get much use. No, the plaza needs to be the heart of the development. That means 7th Street - but you can’t permanently close off 7th. It’s too crucial to the connectivity of the area. A way had to be found to create a large public space that could be closed for events but left open to car traffic the rest of the time - while still slowing traffic enough that people would not feel intimidated by the sometimes speedy pace of cars on 7th.
Finally, an ingenious solution was devised.
The 7th & Arch Adams intersection (which is being radically reconfigured - the curved portion of Arch Adams that runs alongside the existing 7-Eleven is going away, to be replaced by a mixed-use building. Instead, the small offshoot of Arch Adams further west, in front of the new 7-Eleven Corner Store/condo building and Village Homes townhomes - will become the new Arch Adams) will become the plaza. It’ll be a wider open space surrounded by mixed-use structures and retail, giving a constant human presence (making people feel safer due to having “eyes on the street”), and still creating a comforting sense of enclosure being surrounded by 4-8 story buildings. The traffic calming design and plaza design are actually the same - the intersection is being raised up, and paved with rougher brick & stone. This creates an unending pedestrian design - the intersection is at curb height, so the transition from sidewalk to plaza to sidewalk is unbroken - and by creating a rougher surface and a noticeable height difference, it helps to slow traffic on 7th as well.
Using techniques such as these, the streets can become truly multipurpose - even on normal days, cars will travel more slowly through the area and make pedestrians feel more comfortable. The buildings that set back a bit add to the plaza’s space. For special events, the plaza could easily be blocked off completely to make a total pedestrian space.
It’s an interesting bit of urban design, and it’s good to see developers thinking outside the box a bit to create unique and inviting spaces for the Cultural District.
Tags: 7th, 7th Street, architecture, cultural district, mixed-use, Museum Place, plaza, public space, urban, urban design, West 7th
8 Comments, Comments or Pings
ICD
One of the problems not mentioned is the role that street level light rail might have in this plaza. Museum Place has been pushing for a modern streetcar, and the preliminary plans would have the line running one way west on W. 7th through the plaza. Closing the plaza for events while it is a thoroughfare for a rail line makes this impossible. I know we are years away if at all, but some choices might have to be made.
Apr 3rd, 2008
Kevin
When the streetcar comes, I’d imagine they’d just stop closing the plaza - or find a way to close it to everything but the streetcar line. I don’t think it’s a huge issue, really.
Apr 3rd, 2008
Tacoma
I always figured the streetcar plan had it coming to the big intersection and going down Camp Bowie. That way you have easy access to the museums and the development.
I’m sure thats a small problem when compared to the grand scheme.
Apr 3rd, 2008
Kevin
Tacoma,
The current proposal shows the streetcar running down 7th from the big intersection to Montgomery, then down Montgomery until it gets to one of the streets in the Will Rogers complex, then through Will Rogers to University, then up University until Farrington Field, then through Farrington Field’s parking lot, then up Currie to 7th, where it heads back to downtown.
Apr 3rd, 2008
Tacoma
Thanks Kevin. After I posted I saw the Fort Worth Forum thread about it and noticed I was mistaken. Instead of changing my comment I decided to stand on my ignorance.
Apr 3rd, 2008
John Peter Smith
Thanks for posting this Kevin. Do I understand correctly that there is no curb and gutter? While that sounds very interesting I’m wondering what will keep the rainwater out of the buildings?
Apr 3rd, 2008
Kevin
JPS,
Sorry, I forgot to include that detail - the plaza will be reverse crowned, ie slightly lower in the center along its axis. Rainwater will drain to the center of the plaza and into drains located along that center, and will then be dumped out to the normal rain gutters.
Apr 3rd, 2008
b kooistra
Am I to understand that we’ll just “expect” drivers to slow down, just because the road is a little rougher? Hhahahahah. Whomever these consultant are has never driven in DFW! Nothing like a guy in his 4 X 4 with gas-shock suspension feeling he’s invincible.
Has anyone heard about the town in Germany that slowed down their traffic and made the place more pedestrian friendly by entirely doing away with curbs, painted lane dividers, traffic signs and stop signs? Folks pretty much proceed as the way is seen to be clear, and it has given the streets back to pedestrians, caused trucks to avoid the place like the plague except for deliveries, and the uncertainty of the traffic situation has made motorists slow way down.
Probably too radical an idea for us to try, however.
Apr 3rd, 2008
Reply to “Creating A Plaza For The Cultural District”