The redesign of Constitution Gardens on the National Mall honors the clear and optimistic legacy of its 1970’s design and seeks to heighten the Gardens unusual nature, enhance the beauty of its forms, clarify its purpose, envelop all the senses. Essential in this renewal, a new Pavilion amplifies the sense of threshold and operates as a nexus of activity for Constitution Gardens. The Pavilion will include a restaurant, concessions, a wide grand stair and an outdoor lookout and transitions from the higher terrain of the Mall down into the bowl of the Gardens with a dramatic cantilever over the lake’s path. An equilateral grid envelope defines the pavilion as a space yet a part of the landscape.
The park will retain its original purpose as a pastoral setting, but offer new uses and events, in all seasons, day and night. This iconic, multi-programmed public space will be revitalized for all to enjoy. Visitors will enjoy the Gardens from the pavilion 155-ft balcony and find a beautiful retreat in the restaurant, the only such place on the National Mall proper at this time. By maintaining the space as the enclave that it is and even increasing that experience through landscape interventions and the quiet and simple architecture of the pavilion on its promontory, the project gives locals and visitors a welcoming place to retreat from the touristic intensity of the National Mall.