Completed 2024

The natural beauty of Northwest Arkansas has attracted vacationers, outdoor enthusiasts and retirees for generations. Situated at the leading edge of the Ozarks, the landscape is defined by its unique karst topography with features such as bluffs, caves, shelters, sink holes, springs, and losing streams that are characteristic of the limestone geology that supports oak-hickory forests. This limestone, along with sandstone, is locally quarried and widely used in construction throughout the region.

The design for the plaza incorporates references to elements from the regional landscape such as bluffs and springs, and adapts the giraffe stone motif from vernacular architecture, while preserving pockets of existing forest soil and plant communities. These pockets help create a gradual transition from the building to the forest in the ravine by puncturing the paved surface of the plaza.    

Although the hardscaped surface of the plaza is generously scaled, the paving strategy uses the vernacular giraffe stone as a motif to break down the scale through the use of a continuous concrete band and three different unit pavers – two types of clay pavers and one of stone. The colors of the pavers also draw on the typical hues of brown, tan, and red seen in giraffe stone that is constructed with local stone. Similar to the thick mortar joints that bind the stone pieces forming the giraffe stone pattern, a thick band of cast in place concrete runs throughout the plaza holding together the various paved surfaces. In some instances, around areas of protected vegetation, the concrete band becomes a retaining wall. The motif also provides a cohesive and flexible structure for the layout that is able to respond to a mix of site conditions, programmatic needs and adjacencies such as existing topography and trees, the bar, water feature, picnic grove, retail space and shuttle drop-off.

The north end of the plaza is anchored by a play water feature that draws inspiration from the local springs that emerge from underneath the base of a bluff and often seep back into the ground through cracks and crevices in the rocks. Multiple sources of water tucked under the boulders create a steady sheet of water that terminates in a drain concealed under the boulders, encouraging curiosity within children to look under and between the boulders.

The Convergence Plaza has become a significant addition to the public spaces of the museum campus but also to that of Bentonville at large, drawing in families even during days with no specific programmed event. Being easily accessible by bike, access to free parking for over 800 cars, and the campus shuttle, the plaza serves as a welcoming landscape for the 120-acre campus.

Team: 

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Client

Delta Fountains, Water Feature Engineering

CVM, Structural

CEI Engineers, Civil

HSA Engineers, MEP Engineering

Tillett Lighting Design, Lighting Design