Peninsula Town Center Set to Bloom
With just over a year to go before its April 2009 grand opening, progress at Hampton, Virginia's Peninsula Town Center is revealing Steiner's flair for the "green." Plans for the exciting new Steiner + Associates' project were recently approved by local government authorities, and the finished master plan presents an appealing expanse of interconnected retail, entertainment, residential and office spaces that are philosophically and spatially "anchored" by acres of beautifully landscaped, aesthetically inviting parks.
When completed, Peninsula Town Center will include several distinct parks and open green areas. The main town square will serve as a key project focal point, a community gathering place where concerts, neighborhood gatherings and special events will take place.
A nearby but separate "children's park", attached to the center by a smaller formal park area, is designed to help children interact with their surroundings, with contemporary play equipment interspersed with architectural and landscape elements that serve dual purposes as decoration and play surfaces.
A third space, an "entertainment park", is a new and exciting concept for Steiner centers, and one that may serve as a prototype for future developments. Nestled between office space and an impressive cinema-entertainment complex, and lined by restaurants, this park will have two distinct personalities. During the day, office employees and shoppers can take advantage of the restaurants' outdoor tables, as well as numerous seating areas scattered throughout the available open space of the park. In the evenings, the park area is transformed, becoming a "hot zone" of entertainment options with retailers, restaurants and dynamic social events geared toward fun-seeking consumers. Day and night, commerce and entertainment naturally flow from the buildings out into the park, and vice versa.
Additional landscaped open areas will flank anchor stores, offering shoppers an attractive place to stop for a rest or to drink a cup of coffee. All the parks, regardless of "personality", will take full advantage of the mild Hampton climate, with lush vegetation and flowers. Benches and lounge chairs will provide opportunities to sit and chat, or to hide away with a laptop, taking advantage of the center's free wi-fi access.
With 12 acres of open space-approximately 15 percent of the total site area -Peninsula Town Center is one of the "greenest" developments in the town center genre. Steiner Development Executive Justin Leyda explains that "Peninsula Town Center will set the trend for the landscape design of future Steiner properties. Peninsula's many park areas will function as conceptual 'rooms' of a sort, each with its own distinctive personality, but ultimately serving to connect the center as a whole."
"Every landscaping detail adds to the experience," adds Leyda. "From hanging flowerpots to manicured lawns, Peninsula Town Center's parks will set a high standard for outdoor leisure spaces, and make our project a little 'greener' in the process."
