French firm Agence Ter has released new renderings for the redevelopment of Pershing Square, showing updates to its winning design selected by the city in a competition held in 2016.
In collaboration with Gruen Associates, the designer spent the past five months modifying its original concept “based on technical realities of the site and in partnership with the city.” However, many elements that were featured in its winning design have remained as part of the plan, including the “great lawn pergola, gardens and promenade.”
Based on the new renderings, Agence Ter will remove walls that abound the park’s perimeter. It will also lower the height of the parking facility. According to the firm’s statement, this should put the park on the same level as its surrounding sidewalks.
Other updates include a reflection pool that will capture the image of the nearby Millennium Biltmore Hotel, and several landscaping features that the firm promises will give the park a “welcoming ecology with gardens, grasses and lawns.”
Elements in the park’s interior will also be changed under Agence Ter’s updated design, such as the relocation of the proposed pergola. A “step” filled with gardens will also be added along Hill St. instead of previously planned greenery.
The firm and Gruen Associates said that the project’s “planning and feasibility phase” will be finished in the spring of 2018. While both teams are working on the park’s design plan, Pershing Square Renew executive director Eduardo Santana is encouraging the public to “lookout for innovative activations of the square” that would revitalize the park.
