The Confluencia project responds to the need for a multi-generational community gathering space that offers vital shade in Surprise, Arizona. Our design is inspired by the spirit of water—manifested in its many forms—and the close-knit, resilient, and proud community of the Original Town Site. Water, as both a precious resource and the lifeblood of the agricultural foundation that shaped Surprise, serves as a metaphor bridging the past and the future.

Our design for a gathering plaza is created by the meeting, or confluence, or two pathways symbolic of rivers - the river of the past and the river of the future. The plaza contains organically formed terraced seating, reminiscent of canyon walls that have been eroded over time. The paving patterns of the plaza  evokes flowing, swirling water, symbolizing the meeting of different generations, cultures, peoples, memories, and hopes of the community.

Above the plaza, a series of metallic, cloud-like canopies hover. The cotton-bloom shapes honor the community’s legacy in the Pima cotton industry. Their reflective metal surfaces capture the colors and movement of the activities below, symbolizing the present moment where the past and future converge.