Halvorson Design, in coordination with architect/engineers HDR, Inc., revitalized City Hall Plaza with gathering and seating opportunities in a variety of scales and large canopy trees that welcome daily visitors to either soak up the sun or enjoy lunch in the dappled shade. Tree bosques help define the edges of the plaza; offer respite for residents, workers and tourists; and provide direct environmental benefits that set the tone to achieve Boston’s goals for a resilient future. The design team took great care to respect the plaza’s original aesthetic, modeled after Sienna’s Piazza del Campo, while paying attention to the modern needs of pedestrians.

The tree bosques’ strong and defining presence aids in softening the expansive paved space while creating and enhancing opportunities for gathering around the MBTA Government Center Station headhouse and within the plaza itself. Activating the edges with green elements draws people in and allows them to engage with the space at a human scale.

These enhancements to the plaza have made Government Center Station a true multimodel transportation hub with improved pedestrian and bicycle access via the new headhouse, bike share stations and electric vehicle charging stations. Most importantly, the existing terraced steps were replaced with sloped granite walks, providing universal access to Cambridge Street, the transit station and City Hall for the first time.

The team successfully facilitated an intensive design process, resulting in a finished product that will complement future improvements to the plaza and navigates numerous site constraints, including accommodations for the plaza’s annual schedule of large-scale events and concerts, underground subway tunnels, building and utility infrastructure, emergency access, historically significant view sheds, and excessive grade changes.

As the City of Boston’s first initiative through the Greening America’s Capitals program, the plaza renovation and new headhouse transforms Government Center into a vibrant civic space once again. In its first season, the number of visitors who linger in City Hall Plaza has increased and was further enhanced by a number of successful programs developed by the City to bring pedestrians to the site.

Food trucks, pop-up music events, ice skating and a winter market, as well as summer lawn games and picnic tables have all been featured on the plaza. Rather than the “brick desert” of the past, the new City Hall Plaza is aiming to rebrand itself as Boston’s “front lawn” where people are invited to gather and socialize.