Downtown Cary Park is a transformational synthesis of urban design, landscape, architecture, and programming. The design is the result of collaboration between the Town of Cary’s Parks and Rec Department, OJB Landscape Architecture, and Machado Silvetti, along with a host of consultants, community members, and the town’s council and manager’s office. 

The park is organized into two distinct zones that ease a landscape transition from urban to naturalistic. Five pavilions designed by Machado Silvetti anchor the activities in the park. In addition to providing covered and semi-enclosed spaces for shaded leisure and recreation, they house programs including food and beverage, public restrooms, venues for events and performances.  

Three of these pavilions feature conic roof forms that extend the covered space into the landscape, blurring interior and exterior. This relationship between shelter and exposure is further heightened by the pavilions’ clever embedding of the back-of-house functions into their interiors, so that their perimeters can be fully used for engagement with the landscape. Rendered in a material palette of timber elements, wood cladding, white brick, and zinc roofs, the pavilions connect the park to North Carolina’s vernacular construction traditions. The resulting park is a centerpiece of civic investment by the people of Cary, enhancing, expanding, and protecting the vibrant public experience of their rapidly growing community.

“Downtown Cary Park is an investment in our region and an expression of the community to live inspired. The thoughtful design process resulted in a park that is filled with spaces and activities that offer something for everyone.”

— Sean R. Stegall, Cary, NC Town Manager