Department of Environment and Natural Resources Building

The economy has torpedoed nearly all large-scale building projects downtown, but state or county governments are busy on three: additions to the NC State Prison, a new courthouse, and the Green Square Project. Unlike the first two, Green Square will be a place for the enrichment and furthering of culture for visitors to Downtown Raleigh.

Unlike other buildings in Raleigh associated with state government, Green Square is shaping up to be a very pretty addition to downtown landscape. Even the parking deck (above) looks like it will contribute to the appeal of a mostly bland complex of government buildings.

The top of the parking deck in its unfinished state exuding a sense of overflowing space and breadth

Adding a touch of modern to a rather plain section of Edenton Street

The presence of two cranes indicating the size of the project

The Clarion Hotel in the distance visible between the vertical metal fansÂ

Perhaps the most interesting feature of one of the new buildings will be a giant earth sculpture incorporated into the Natural Resources Building. You can see where the spherical structure will rest in the photo above.

Green Square rendering

You can sort of get an idea of what the earth sculpture will look like based on the image above. I say sort of because the image above is done in a style in which so many architectural firms seem to be moving toward: renderings which resemble a watercolor impressionist painting. Unfortunately, a detailed drawing of this sculpture seems impossible to come by.

View from the top of the deck, with the Capitol Building in the distance

Although not nearly as monumental as the Capitol Building and not as bold as the Legislative Building which sit on either side, the Green Square Project represents a very forward thinking and modern move for North Carolina state government. These projects seems to contradict the widely held belief (with me, anyway) that state government buildings are by and large condemned to be bland and soulless structures. The walls of steel and glass a far cry from the poured concrete structures around it.

For more information on the Green Square project, I recommend checking out the Raleigh Connoisseur. Leo has been covering the project for a while and has lot of photos and background information.

You can see progress of the Green Square project off of Edenton Street, about a block away from the Capitol Building.