Murray, Utah sits at the center of the Salt Lake Valley, with the Great Salt Lake to the northwest and monumental mountains in all four directions. It’s an ideal location in the basin, a flat area with the best views, climate, and convenience to be found in one place. Security National Plaza offers a place to observe the landscape, an outdoor space set at a distance from the wild terrain that surrounds it but imbued with the feeling of being right at the heart of it all.
The plaza is a transitional space between private life and work, between indoors and outdoors, between leisure and focus. Wedged in the middle of the pristine Security National building and its austere concrete parking garage, it was often overlooked despite its huge importance in the day of every single user. It’s a place where users shift from their internal, contemplative selves into their active, focused, social work selves. It’s a moment of meditation before an important meeting or a big pitch. And at the end of the day, it carries employees back into their private lives, letting go of the concerns of the day and celebrating the successes.
The walkway structure is composed of a single sheet of metal reaching between the two buildings, and is held up by a series of pairs of steel columns, their angular form referencing the angular shape of the space they span. A key element of this walkway is its reflective finish: just as an employee might give themselves a pep talk in the bathroom mirror before a big presentation, the reflective walkway confronts users with themselves, letting them remember their strengths and start the day with an air of confidence.
Two smaller pavilions were placed further within the plaza, acting as enclosures for two seating areas. Surrounded on three sides by the buildings and the walkway structure, this triangle of space has a feeling of privacy and leisure, a valley of its own within the ceaseless buzz of the workplace.
The landscaping throughout the plaza repeats the walkway’s themes, using thick lines and mixed textures to separate intention and draw the eye across the space. Modern, angular furniture was sought out to tie the plaza together, with a blend of static, architectural benches that clearly mark use, and light, movable pieces that allow for customizable layouts.
