The lawn panel in construction. The concrete will be finished with Cor-Ten steel. Photo: David Ostrich.
Bethlehem 21st Century Town Square illustrative plan.
Current conditions view of the Steel Stacks from East 1st Street, facing west. Photo: David Ostrich.
Detail of the Bethlehem 21st Century Town Square plan.
Site paving schedule, sheet 1: Parking lot and East 1st Street.
Site paving schedule, sheet 2: Festival Plaza.
Site paving schedule, sheet 3: Bethlehem Landing Plaza, East 1st Street, and Amphitheater.
Site paving schedule, sheet 4: East 1st Street, Amphitheater, Founder's Way, ArtsQuest Plaza, PBS Plaza, and the Picnic Grove.
Detail plan of custom granite paving pattern for ArtsQuest Plaza, sheet 2. Each of the modules is composed of the same type of granite. The banding is created by using modules with different finishes.
Detail plan of custom granite paving pattern for ArtsQuest Plaza, sheet 1. The paving pattern is created from a regular grid of 24"x36" modules. These are intermittently broken down into 16"x36" and 8"x36" modules.
Detail of the brick paving being installed in the roadway. Photo: David Ostrich.
The brick pattern is made up of a mix of lighter and darker colors. Photo: David Ostrich.
The brick paving will continue from the plaza across the table-topped roadway. Photo: David Ostrich.
A view of construction of the plaza. Photo: David Ostrich.
A detail of the steel band interface between asphalt and brick paving. Photo: David Ostrich.
The plaza consists of brick and granite paving separated by a steel band. Photo: David Ostrich.
The granite pavers being installed with the steel stacks in the background. Photo: David Ostrich.
The light beam fixtures being installed. Photo: David Ostrich.
Bethlehem 21st C. Town Square
Bethlehem 21st Century Town Square is a dynamic arts, culture and education campus that will be constructed on 4.5 acres of former Bethlehem Steel Corporation land in Bethlehem, PA. WRT was tasked with the design and documentation of an amphitheater, three plazas, a picnic grove and a parking lot in the shadow of the sublime ruins of the Bethlehem Steel plant.
I worked on creating construction documentation for the project, including demolition plans, existing conditions plans, site layout plans, site paving schedules, and planting plans. I was involved in choosing materials for the project, which include granite, brick, cast-in-place concrete, corten steel, bonded aggregate, and bituminous concrete.
In addition, I designed a paving pattern for two of the main plaza spaces on the site, the Festival Center Plaza and the PBS39 Plaza. The pattern consists of 24x36 in. granite modules which are broken down further in some places to 16x36 in and 8x36 in. The smaller modules are prepared with three different finish types and are used to create bands of paving that move through the site. The different finishes will create subtle changes in the experience of the plaza, which will be amplified by weather and light conditions.
Aug2010
Professional
Client
- City of Bethlehem, PA
Firm
- Wallace Roberts & Todd
Collaborators
- David Ostrich
- Keiko Cramer
- Tobias Horton
- Elizabeth Keary