
Stratford Market Square Competition
The Square in Winter
PLANT won the international competition for the design of this new public square in fall 2006 to replace the existing parking lot and bus depot. New Market Square will be a commons for the people of Stratford, where two opposing slopes generate an arena for public life. The sunken ground is a collector of activity as well as water; open space allows movement through and around the Square; a gently folded plane generates an ever-changing set of perspectives. A large grove of Sycamore trees makes the Square both a park and a piazza.
The new “creased” brick planes define a locus within the greater pedestrian realm resurfaced in finely-grained brick where the resultant slope of the ground gives City Hall a stately prominence and the South retail promenade overlooks onto the Square. The Square is edged by a seat wall on the west and shallow amphitheatre-like steps at the east, and a wide treed promenade for café table spill-out at the South.







