Knights Plaza

At the University of Central Florida’s Knights Plaza, Huitt-Zollars’ bold vision reinvented the existing plaza by giving it a new modern aesthetic, a sense of place, and more appropriately scaled spaces. The design broke the previous plaza down into three distinct outdoor “rooms,” providing needed spatial definition, shade, and seating options. This dynamic solution maintains a central events space, bound by alleys of date palms, plants, and fountains, creating shaded seating options in the new interstitial spaces between the larger rooms. The scale provides the immersive experience of going through the plaza, rather than simply across it. This new definition fosters the creation of a memorable pedestrian environment with a strong sense of place, maintaining the ability to continue to hold large events, but also work for smaller, more intimate gatherings.