The public realm – defined by busy thoroughfares but percolating into side streets, retail parking lots and Orlando Health Center – introduces “seeds of change” for the neighbourhood. Strategized to bloom in a brilliant rainbow of colours throughout the year, the multi-scaled urban and landscape design comes in the form of plants, trees, lights, and shading canopies to create a vibrant visual identity that resonates with the community and visitors.
By contrast, the National Pulse Memorial is a calm and stoic transformation of the original nightclub building. The design preserves the structure, coating it in a midnight black, with gold accentuating fractures in the building’s façade. The structure seemingly levitates between 9.5- and 12-feet atop an undulating landscape to allow visitors to enter a space of intimacy, contemplation, and remembrance. The atmospheric setting is home to 49 trees chosen by victims’ families, while sensory spotlights set into the ground react to the presence of visitors to strengthen their connection to the space.