The Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park, previously a lumber yard mill, cargo weigh station, and brownfield is now a new 6.6-acre waterfront park in Wilmington, NC. The project became an achievement for public spaces because of a democratic referendum in 2012 to develop a public park instead of a privately-owned baseball stadium. This entire site went from an abandoned brownfield into a whole new community-supported public space/
The design includes a 7,200-person outdoor stage and music venue, complete with a 4,000 sq. ft. stage and back-of-house support buildings. The two main structures: the large steel, concrete, and state-of-the-art wood stage, designed under high standards requested by the concert organizers, Live Nation; and a series of buildings holding all the supporting activities such as maintenance, back-stage activities, and restrooms.
The project was done in close collaboration with the award-winning landscape studio Hargreaves Jones as the prime firm and leading consultant. They invited us to join their team to design these new pavilions to both provide all the needed services and to frame and delineate this new public landscape at the shores of Cape Fear River.
The regenerative and resilient design strategies made this new Public Park in Wilmington the recipient of the 2020 Waterfront Alliance coveted WEDG Certification for the project's riverfront intervention. The park site connects to downtown via Wilmington's iconic Riverwalk, while the new boardwalk. As both an everyday regional park and a venue for concerts and civic festivals, the park is a uniquely flexible open space.
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