Landscape Architect Articles

Spartanburg's Downtown District Gets a "Little" Help08-02-07 | News

Spartanburg's Downtown District Gets a "Little" Help

Stephen Kelly, editor

The Extended Stay America Headquarters Building (center) in downtown Spartenburg, S.C. reveals three water elements: the Palmetto Plaza (bottom left), the Auto Courtyard Fountain (middle); and the Temple Fountain (right). The parking structure (top) is beneath the Auto Courtyard. The employee courtyard is to the left of the building. Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, Charlotte, N.C., provided design services: architecture; landscape architecture; civil, electrical, plumbing, structural and mechanical engineering. F.N.Thompson, Charlotte, N.C., was the general contractor..

Spartanburg, S.C. is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, known as the Piedmont. Not that long ago, it was home to the Catawba and Cherokee.

The area defined today as Spartanburg County was the site of nine battles with Mother England during the Revolutionary War, the most famous battle and important victory being the Battle of Cowpens, Jan. 17, 1781.

The lower garden/employee courtyard has four-tiered Renaissance stone walls leading from the building to the wire-cut brick sidewalk (in a Spartanburg herringbone pattern). The courtyard has light-duty tumbled concrete pavers (Hanover Architectural Products) in a 90 deg. pattern of charcoal and natural color mix and charcoal color accent banding. The pergola is aluminum. The cast stone pots contain purple coneflowers. The tress in the middle planters are Muskogee crapemyrtles, with Nataches common crapemyrtles in the planters by the sidewalk, separated by the bronze sculpture "Self-Made Man" byBobbie Caryle. Willow oaks line the sidewalk. The street received new heavy-duty asphalt pavement.

Starting in 1816, cotton and the textile mills drove the economy. The mills and owners that dominated the politics and economy of the region for nearly a century are nearly all abandoned. Many mill ruins remain along the riverbanks, a reminder of another time and life (quite a contrast to the BMW manufacturing facility at the western end of Spartanburg County).

But enough of history! What's happenin' now? Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama was in town June 14, speaking at the Mount Moriah Baptist Church. The same day, the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport and some surrounding areas experienced power outages in the afternoon and evening after severe thunderstorms.

This view is across Dunbar Street to the entrance of the Extended Stay Hotels world headquarters. The building's sidewalk is wire-cut brick pavement, interspersed with willow oaks. Cut stone walls border the granite steps. Spartanburg has a new proposed urban code with new construction in mind. It promotes pedestrian and bicycle-friendly streets/sidewalks (including bicycle parking), and signage/historic preservation standards. Existing buildings may not be subject to the new code.

On the nature front, a fox came out of the woods and bit a Spartanburg man in his backyard. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said the fox was rabid. The man is undergoing inoculations to combat the virus. About 400 South Carolinians receive treatment for rabies every year.

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The heavy-duty tumbled concrete pavers in the auto court are laid out in a 45 deg. pattern around the fountain. The pool base, wall and coping are cast stone. The central bronze nozzle sprays 8 ft. high, with a spread of 5 ft.

On the economic front, Spartanburg County has only five percent unemployment, with 2,189 jobs affected by layoffs since 2005. Of those layoffs, 424 were in supermarkets and grocery stores.

The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment was just in town for their annual meeting.

Crime, always a concern for cities, has prompted the Spartanburg Public Safety to add bicycle patrol officer downtown, with more officers on patrol Wednesdays though the weekend.

"Silver pearl" granite (Forum, Inc. of Charlotte) pavers (18" x 18") with a granite band and steps are the hardscape for Palmetto Plaza Fountain. There are eight 8-in. wide bronze weirs and 16 niche spot lights in the bottom pool. The landscape architect specified a flamed finish, i.e., a rough-textured finish that results from applying a flame to the surface of a stone containing abundant silica, also called flame-textured finish. The wall is Renaissance stone.

New Urban Code

But the big news for Spartanburg in the design and planning realm is the just proposed (as of June 20) urban code that "when coupled with the downtown master plan, could change the face of the city's core," speculates the local media. The planning commission is scheduled to take its first look at the new urban code on June 27. Spartanburg is not rushing things, however. The commissioners will have ample time to carefully examine the code, ask questions, get input from the community and make additions or changes to the document before it moves on to the city council. The new urban code is a trim, streamlined 40 pages that will replace the 250-pages of zoning for the central business district.

The foreground flora (moving toward the Palmetto Plaza Fountain) is variegated liriope, common laurelcherry, compacta holly and ???Village Green' Japanese zelkova trees. The "palmetto palm" and the spraying plants in the fountain are copper sculptures commissioned by the owner.

The urban code was developed with new construction in mind, to create greater density and promote pedestrian and bicycle-friendly streets and sidewalks (including bicycle parking), signage standards and historic preservation standards. Existing buildings and homes may not be subject to the new code. The new code is stricter, which will create more challenges for planners, designers and landscape architects, but the city fathers believe it will increase property values. The urban code covers 1.5 square miles of downtown Spartanburg. Three downtown districts are delineated as D-T4???urban neighborhoods that surround or are important to the area; D-T5???gateway corridors and blocks surrounding the downtown core; and D-T6???the downtown area with the most pedestrian activity and urbanism. The idea is to create a strong design for downtown and make it the hub for civic and cultural events.

The Palmetto Plaza Fountain, at the corner of Magnolia and Dunbar streets, shows off the light poles/luminaries, provided, installed and maintained by the city of Spartanburg.

The code specifies what structures may be located in a specific district and what heights, building types, setbacks and frontages are allowed. The code doesn't apply to civic or government buildings.

There are incentives for LEED (U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) construction, but no requirements to conform to those specifications.

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Temple Fountain has now lost a swath of turf, but gained some river rock.

Extended Stay America
Corporate Headquarters

The efforts of developers and community leaders to upgrade Spartanburg's downtown district include a remodeled Morgan Square, restoration of some historic buildings and relocating several businesses and company headquarters to the downtown area.

One of Spartanburg's prominent new developments is the nine-floor, 240-room Marriott. There's also the new world headquarters of Extended Stay Hotels, our featured project.

"The design plan blended rich historical, architectural and landscape architectural themes throughout the development," says Little Diversified Architectural Consulting (Little), a multidisciplinary firm of architects, engineers, landscape architects and land and facility planners. The Little team carefully considered the cultural and regional history of the area to "reflect a familiarity of materials and design applications unique to upstate South Carolina."

Little was mindful of respecting Spartanburg's historical significance, while seeking to infuse a new, clean feel that would impart more vitality for the city. Little strove to give the outdoor spaces unique attributes that were usable and engaging to the public and to the corporate headquarters employees.

"Water and gardens became focal points of the project, with three distinct applications of water work art and sculptures in addition to urban gardens at opposite ends of the building," explain the designers. "Each garden offers private and public exposure and is enhanced by manicured landscaping to further define and enclose each space."

The water temple garden fountain has a spray ring installed within the temple entablature, spraying water four ft. high and 10.6 ft. wide. There are eight colonnades (niche lights at the base of each) with cast stone steps and a hardscape of brick pavers with sailor course edges (brick laid parallel to the edge) for the interior and exterior circumferences. The concrete/turf edge to the center of the fountain is 12 ft., and the radius from the center of the fountain to the outside of the stone seat wall is 41.03 ft. Okame cherry trees line the building's edge above the seatwall. Across the street is Morgan Square, which the city has refurbished.

The lower garden has tiered walls, a pegola, potted plants and planters, tumbled pavers and a bronze sculpture. Employees take the air here, enjoying a break from their work to enjoy the smells and colors of the garden. The adjacent Palmetto Plaza and fountain are presented as a civic space, which ties in well with the urban streetscape and its historic context.

Along Dunbar Street you walk the brick sidewalk festooned with young willow oaks. Here is the street entrance to the Extended Stay America headquarters. As you turning left onto North Church Street, you take in the classic looking Temple Fountain, its oval seat wall and allee of Okame cherry trees.

The auto court is situated above the below-ground parking structure. The fountain, planting areas, irrigation and drainage here were independently designed in close collaboration with the structural design team. The trees are Nataches common crapemyrtles.

The auto courtyard entrance has tumbled pavers and a cast stone fountain, all sitting atop a below-ground parking structure.

Little created a significant addition to downtown Spartanburg that complements this historical setting, providing an outstanding, civic-minded and responsive design for the client that also came in under budget.

Contributors:

Bo Sun, RLA, AICP, LEED?? AP

Land Development Services |, Director of Design ??? Little Diversified Architectural Consulting ??? Charlotte, N.C.

Tina Howell ??? Little Diversified Architectural Consulting???Charlotte, N.C.

Little Diversified Architectural Consulting ??? (Little) is a leading architectural consulting firm with a network of 300 professionals in these cities: Charlotte; Dallas; Durham; Los Angeles; Orlando; Washington, D.C. Little's work encompasses architecture, engineering, land planning, facilities planning, space management, 3-D visualization and internet application services.

The Design/Construction Team ??? Little (Little Diversified Architectural Consulting), Charlotte, N.C., provided all design services???Architect, Landscape Architect, Civil Engineer, Electrical Engineer, Plumbing Engineer, Structural Engineer, Mechanical Engineer

F.N.Thompson, Charlotte, N.C., was the general contractor.

Planting notes:

Mulch is double hammered hardwood bark.

For new planting areas, the compacted soil was removed and two feet of new topsoil added (if the top two feet did not meet specified topsoil planting mix).

Three extra feet were added to the building and plant spacing requirement at the building columns to accommodate the spotlights located two feet from the building.

All planting areas in the vehicular use areas include concrete vertical curbing.

All planting pots (and trash receptacles, ash urns) are cast stone.

Magnolia Street Plaza planter pots have 2-in. drain holes for drip irrigation lines. All other pots are hand watered.

All turf, planting areas and trees are irrigated. There are separate systems for shrub and turf areas.

There are gate valves at downstream side of backflow and at hydraulic controllers.

In 1775, Colonel William Moultrie was asked to design a banner for South Carolina troops fighting the British. When South Carolina seceded from the Union, a Palmetto tree was added to the design. This flag still flies over South Carolina today.

Spartanburg, S.C.

Name: Derives from the Spartan Rifles, the local militia that fought against the Brits cause during the Revolutionary War.

AKA: "Hub City" (for all the railroads converting here during the days of the textile mills); "Jewel of the upstate" and "Crossroads of the New South."

Location: Near the N.C. border, at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Pop.: 40,000 (750,000 within a 30-mile radius).

Air Hub: Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP).

Gathering Places: Morgan Square, Barnet Park, and the adjacent Renaissance Park.

Prominent Companies: BMW; Denny's; Extended Stay America (headquarters???our project feature); Milliken & Co.; and QS/1 (regional headquarters).

Landscape: Hatcher Garden & Woodland Preserve; Roger Milliken Research and Customer Center (600 acres of trees, ponds, meadows and fountains).

Culture: Hub City Writers Project; David Reid Playhouse; USC Upstate Performing Arts Center; Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium; Chapman Cultural Center (coming soon).

Historical Sites: Cowpens National Battlefield (Revolutionary War); Walnut Grove Plantation.

Colleges: Wofford; Converse; Univ. of South Carolina Upstate; Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic; Spartanburg Methodist; Spartanburg Technical.

Sports: Training camp for Carolina Panthers of the NFL.