As a part of the city’s tourism promotion effort, the Baltimore Development Corporation commissioned a team of architects, landscape architects, and engineers to provide design services for a $4 million visitor center to be located in a prominent location in the Inner Harbor.  This project is part of the continuing redevelopment effort for the Inner Harbor of Baltimore City. 

PELA, the project landscape architect, provided landscape architectural design services including the conceptual and final landscape plan, construction document preparation, stake holder engagement, and specifications preparation.

PELA took a formal, simple, and broad-brush design approach, using paving, planting and site furnishings to integrate the primarily glass building with its environment.  A bosque of trees was planted along the waterfront to create a shaded picnic area.  A formal row of trees was arranged along the street frontage so that the Visitor Center remains visible from the street. A low maintenance landscape was created.

A brick plaza, lined with blue stone benches on one side, was constructed for public gathering and to serve as a visual connection between the waterfront and Conway Street, one of the major gateways to the Inner Harbor. We paid special attention to the design details, such as brick and granite paving patterns, the scoring pattern for the concrete paving, and the selection and placement of light fixtures and bollards. A Time Capsule was relocated to the plaza, near the entrance of the Visitor Center.