Built in the 1930s at the edge of what was once a thriving citrus farming community, the Great Southern Box Building holds a distinct place in Central Florida's industrial story. But as Florida's citrus industry waned, the building's purpose faded, leaving behind a quiet relic of a once-essential enterprise.

The Great Southern Box Building and the surrounding 200 acres are under the stewardship of Dr. Phillips Charities, whose mission of creating lasting impact is reshaping this historic landscape into a catalyst for new economic and cultural vitality. The Great Southern Box Company Food Hall and Bar opened its doors in 2024, serving the community as both a culinary hub and restaurant incubator, offering short-term lease opportunities to local, ethnic chefs to showcase their craft.

Beyond its role as a culinary hub, the 13,000-square-foot Food Hall building embraces its civic potential, featuring a flexible event venue that hosts both private functions and a vibrant calendar of community programming.

 

Landscape Architecture
Dix.Hite + Partners, from Orlando, served as the Landscape Architect on the project, reimagining and designing the exterior connections of the Food Hall by drawing inspiration from the textures, patterns, and stories embedded in the site itself. They collaborated closely with the architects, engineers, and client to connect the outdoor spaces seamlessly with the building interiors. They also led the urban design for the entire block as part of this transformation, coordinating the placement of the parking garage, a future hotel, and office spaces alongside the historic Food Hall building. The design intent was clear - to create a space that celebrated the site's industrial heritage while inviting new community life.

Challenges
One of the project's defining challenges was the building's loading dock height, which created a significant grade separation between the interior and exterior. Instead of treating this as a constraint, the design team embraced it as an opportunity to strengthen flow and connectivity by creating distinctive outdoor rooms. Hydraulically operated doors erase boundaries between the indoors and outdoors, while subtle grade adjustments ensure that movement feels effortless throughout the site.

Serving as the main gathering area and entrance at front of the Food Hall, the "Plinth" was established by elevating the landscape approximately 42 inches to meet the dock level. Its northwest corner is designed as a temporary landscape with plans for a future restaurant and rooftop bar. In close collaboration with dap design - a local architecture firm - new cast-concrete shade canopies and their atrium gardens were designed to invite play and discovery. Children climb over natural boulders and stepping blocks while rainwater is guided from the canopies to the planted landscapes below. The central space is flexible, with movable furniture and games, serving as a venue for community events throughout the year. The Plinth's eastern edge integrates gates that open to a temporary stage and band area, enhancing the space's versatility. Four large Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana) were craned into place to provide instant shade and anchor the area.

The south porch offers a quieter setting for smaller gatherings and reflection. A raised deck at the rear of the site provides views of the rail spur and the future urban stormwater park. The seating area is surrounded by clusters of Sabal Palms (Sabal palmetto) and accented by festival lighting, creating a welcoming atmosphere for visitors. Together, the Plinth and Porch express two sides of community life: one civic and celebratory, the other personal and contemplative.

Design Inspiration
The design language is rooted in subtle analogies between past and present. The weathered surfaces of old grates, the patina of decades of industrial use, and the linear repetition of stacked crates all informed a palette of concrete with varied aggregate exposures, laser-cut metal scrims, and warm wood details. Through these details, the site tells a layered story - industrial and natural, civic and playful, rooted and renewed.

The outcome is a place that does more than restore a building; it reawakens it. The Great Southern Box Company Food Hall and Bar now stands as a new civic landmark in Orlando's Packing District, proving that adaptive reuse paired with thoughtful landscape design can transform industrial memory into cultural momentum.

As seen in LASN magazine, December 2025.