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Within Walnut Creek's highly walkable context, we set out to define a new character for Growers Square, while referencing some important historical touchpoints and building a resilient landscape for the future.
Conceptually the plan references the untamed wilderness that once occupied this pristine valley along the banks of Walnut Creek. Layered onto the plan are subtle homages to the successive waves of people that once occupied this complex site.
The Volvons, a band of the Bay Miwok Indian tribe, called this territory home for nearly a century prior to the incursion of the Spanish explorers in the late 18th century. The distinctive paving pattern in the central plaza, a contrasting black and white pattern, is a direct reference to the tattooing that adorned the face and body of Miwok Indians. The chevron-like diamond shapes of the pattern mimics the ceremonial crown-style headdresses donned during their religious ceremonies.
Fast forward to the late 19th century and the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad to Walnut Creek. This momentous arrival of the transcontinental route is marked in the landscape with an 85’ long bench constructed of roughhewn reclaimed western red cedar timbers.
The resiliency of the plan is scribed out from a planting palette that accepts the changing climate of this inland valley and its harsh and dramatic range of temperatures. We’ve chosen a palate that may seem foreign to this terrestrial ecoregion, but we believe in its ability to adapt to the ecoregion's quickly changing environment, one with hotter temperatures and less water.