The Civic Building anchors a key pedestrian axis in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, connecting the Veterans’ Plaza, the Metro station, and the building itself. A pedestrian spur off the town’s main shopping street, Ellsworth Drive, extends across the adjacent plaza all the way to the building’s front door. This walkway continues as the building’s main internal circulation route, ending at a secondary entry vestibule at Veterans’ Place that offers a more informal connection to the residential neighborhood. In this way, the Civic Building occupies—and creates—a zone that mediates between the downtown commercial and retail area and the surrounding residential zone. 

Because the Civic Building houses public administrative functions for the town, a community program, and a local non-profit, Machado Silvetti defined substantial internal relationships between these different program elements to create a building that feels cohesive and welcoming. Physical and visual connections—balconies, glazed classroom walls, a large feature stair, a courtyard and double volume spaces—enhance openness and accessibility.

“It’s more than a building: There’s an integration of constructed public spaces both indoors and outdoors.”

— A. Aubrey Swift, AIA, CEM, LEED AP, Director of Design Integration at dbHMS, Chicago