IKM Incorporated, the Pittsburgh-based architecture firm, was commissioned by Hillman Properties as
the lead architect to design a winter ice skating rink and choreographed
fountain on the outdoor plaza of PPG Place, the 1 million square foot, 6-building office complex in downtown Pittsburgh, PA. The ice rink and fountain were the
first steps in transforming the cool, crisp plaza into a people-friendly place.
Elegant but then underutilized, the plaza now comes alive in the winter months with
a diamond-shaped rink surrounding the existing, distinctive rose-granite
obelisk at its center. With dimensions of 104 by 104 feet, the rink is larger than (and has already been compared to) the rink at Rockefeller Center
in New York City.
In the spring and summer, the plaza
features fountains created by WET Design in collaboration with SWA Group. The
fountain’s water jets are submerged in the plaza’s granite surface creating
a dramatic effect without a pool or basin. The jets are computer programmed
for an endless variety of motion at heights varying from six inches to 15 feet,
at different energy levels. Moving columns of water will appear to be dancing
on the surface of the plaza and the dark granite surface will become a mirror
of reflectivity when it is wet. At night the fountains are saturated with
light to reflect in the glass architecture of the six-building complex of PPG
Place. The plaza also received movable plants, trees, tables and chairs for
warm-weather use.
The goal of the transformation was to create
an area of vibrancy that embraces the character of the space, engages the
public in an active way, and respects the architectural significance of the
plaza.