Landscape Architect Articles

2016 Firms of the South: surface 67810-04-16 | Feature

Surface 678
Durham, North Carolina

North Carolina Museum of Art Raleigh, North Carolina

One of the state's top cultural destinations, the North Carolina Museum of Art is host to over 700,000 visitors annually. Surface 678 designed the plaza and surrounding sites that encourage outdoor activity and interaction with art, nature and architecture. A new style entry plaza serves as a social gathering space and vehicular drop off. Minimalistic yet finely crafted courtyards provide quiet spaces for the enjoyment of sculpture, the most prominent of which houses the museum's internationally significant Rodin collection. A trio of linear reflecting pools provides visual continuity, linking exterior entrance spaces, interior lobbies and outdoor sculpture courtyards. Rainwater is filtered in bioretention cells and stored in an underground cistern, providing recycled water for the pools and irrigation system.

Durham County Human Services Complex Durham, North Carolina

Surface 678 provided site design for the 244,000 square foot Durham County Human Services Complex. The design features a bluestone and granite paved interior courtyard that serves as a large employee gathering space. LEED features include a 50% reduction in potable water use through efficient irrigation design, a 50,000 gallon cistern, native and urban tolerant plants, and stormwater features. A special soil mix in the streetscape design allows increased root growth for larger and healthier trees at the site perimeter.

Market & Exchange Plazas, Raleigh, North Carolina

The Market and Exchange Plazas are historic plazas in downtown Raleigh on either side of the 227 Building and connected to Fayetteville Street. Surface 678 provided design for the complete renovation of both plazas, which are flanked by ground floor businesses that were key stakeholders. The design of each plaza responds to the various uses and are individual in character: Market Plaza is designed to accommodate pop-up retail; Exchange Plaza is designed with business and restaurant flair. Key challenges included shallow underground utilities, onsite stormwater mitigation and flexible site programming.

NCSU Companion Animal Veterinary Medical Center, Raleigh, North Carolina

Surface 678 created the master plan and site design for the $72 million Randall B. Terry Jr. Companion Animal Veterinary Medical Center located on the Centennial Biomedical campus of North Carolina State University. The 110,000-square-foot addition more than doubles the size of the institution's Small Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The building forms the campus hearth, a significant social and cultural outdoor space. Surface 678 designed stormwater management technologies to reduce sedimentation and increase water quality. A series of campus paths connect the project to the meadow, research facilities and college.

Founded in 1993, Lappas + Havener was renamed Surface 678 in 2013 to reflect the broader values of the now 20-person landscape architecture practice. The new name derives from the medium in which they express design, which is the firm's focus. Their designs begin with a generative idea that shapes the foundation of the concept and creates an organizational structure that expresses itself in the design. Idea and expression create the sense of place and relevance of their work. The result is distinctive and sustainable places that satisfy residents, attract visitors, enrich working lives and encourage communities to take full advantage of their place.

As seen in LASN magazine, October 2016.