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This winning proposal for the Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza is sited to extend the axis of Ellsworth Drive into the site as it crosses Fenton Street. The plaza completes a larger sequence of outdoor spaces of various sizes and characters, which starts with the nearby Metro station and extends through the Discovery Communications Headquarters gardens and the Silver Plaza.
With its significant change in grade, this particular site posed a challenge in attempting to maximize the plaza's openness to the surrounding neighborhoods. By maintaining the grade level at the main intersection of Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street, the plaza settles into a place midway between the grade extremes with ramps and stairs providing access to the plaza from all sides. The skating rink and its canopies are situated at the Ellsworth and Fenton intersection, signaling the entrance to the plaza and energizing that portion of the space with various activities throughout the year.
The civic building's entrance, located opposite the skating rink and pavilions, is placed on axis with entry to the plaza, and extends through the building's glass atrium allowing a secondary entrance from Veterans Place.
The building is divided into three distinct zones: the great hall and its supporting program; the glass atrium space allowing entry from both sides of the building; and a three-story volume along Ellsworth Drive containing the Community Program Center, Round House Theater School, and Regional Service Center. The entrance to the Roundhouse Theater School, located at the lower level on the corner of Ellsworth Drive and Veterans Place, provides a degree of autonomy and accommodates off-hours access for these program spaces.
The building's plan is highly flexible. Theatrical performances and activities of various scales and orientations are possible. The great hall, for example, can be subdivided into three spaces of different sizes. Upper-level balconies provide room for expansion as well as a variety of spectator experiences. The walls opposite the great hall's stage open completely to the plaza. An exterior, upper-level, covered balcony allows the plaza to serve as an outdoor theater oriented toward a stage located below the canopies along Fenton Street. Further, the large proscenium-like elevation of the great hall's building mass creates a civically scaled, flexible space meant to function as a memorable urban destination in the life of the Silver Spring community.