Charlotte, NC
Vantage South End
Rethinking The Urban Office Experience
status
Completed 2022
client
Spectrum Companies
expertise
Mixed Use, Office + Corporate Campus, Public Realm + Open Space
services
Landscape Architecture, Civil Engineering
The Workplace of The Future
Vantage South End is an award-winning development on the forefront of healthy and flexible working environments.
Uptown Charlotte has long been known as the city’s prime business district. However, as Charlotte’s thriving South End community continues to develop Spectrum Companies decided to rewrite that narrative. The fast-growing South End community greatly appeals to Charlotte’s young professionals, tech-forward businesses, and people who enjoy getting around without a car. Recognizing the growing desire for a non-traditional work setting, Spectrum Companies saw this dynamic district as the prime location for Vantage South End, a 635k square foot mixed-use development boasting two 11-story office towers, experiential retail and dining, a planned boutique hotel, and a 1+ acre urban park. An office experience for the modern worker, Vantage promotes an environment designed to inspire creativity, health, and community. With 18 outdoor terraces, urban green space, and over 1,000 outdoor seating options, employees have the flexibility to escape their desks and enjoy some fresh air while they work.
The vibrant, open campus seamlessly integrates into the surrounding blocks, and is easily accessed and traversed through visually interesting pedestrian corridors and an urban park. The site also receives direct access through major roadways and discreetly invites vehicular traffic into a parking garage that then channels visitors into the pedestrian-oriented core. With South End becoming one of the most sought-after neighborhoods, the client saw the need for an office development that is not only accessible to the community’s offerings but also provides much needed greenspace for those who work and live there. Only a short walk to the light rail station, Uptown Charlotte, and the energetic South End’s wide array of restaurants and retail, Vantage South End is primed to be a 24-hour hub for activity.
Knowing this space would be experienced from ground-level and the terraces above, it was essential to create visual interest and pleasing views from the various vantage points then ensure these views remained uninterrupted. Strategic infrastructure planning and collaboration between our landscape architecture and civil engineering teams allowed careful integration of necessary functional elements, disguising them among the design. Preventing impediments to the beautiful streetscape required coordinating with the city and various utility providers to move the utilities underground along the primary sides of the development.
The success of our design relied on the stormwater management infrastructure. Our civil engineers strategically arranged the drains to be masked by the planter and paver forms.
Mirroring The Architecture In The Landscape
Playing off the unique angularity of the surrounding architecture, visual interest comes through the lighting, materiality, and forms of the paving, pathways, and planters. Creative use of ground pavers near the north entrance usher people into the spaces with a dynamic gradient pattern. Looking down from the office towers a staggered arrangement of suspended lights are complimented by a similar geometric pattern of light and dark paving stones.
Physical
Create a visually engaging environment through intentional materiality and form design
Functional
Ensure stormwater drainage needs are met through creative infrastructure planning and placement
Social
Curate all outdoor space that can accommodate the needs of office employees, retail patrons, and nearby residents
Physical
Create a visually engaging environment through intentional materiality and form design
Functional
Ensure stormwater drainage needs are met through creative infrastructure planning and placement
Social
Curate all outdoor space that can accommodate the needs of office employees, retail patrons, and nearby residents
A Sculpture that Evolved with the Site
Leveraging the sunken topography near the entrance of the park, we incorporated monumental seating and a lush plant palette to create an intimate environment within the larger central open space. To note this urban oasis with a distinct landmark our team engaged local artist Ivan Depeña to craft a sculpture that was both visually dynamic and frames the courtyard. We were able to ensure the feasibility of the sculpture with proper footings, strategically placed underground infrastructure, and a well-coordinated construction schedule.
