North Bank Park Pavilion

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Size: 6,357 SF

Completed: 2005

The Recchie Design award-winning North Bank Park Pavilion is the focal point of the approximately 14.5 acre city park located on the north bank of the Scioto River in downtown Columbus, Ohio. It is just downriver from the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers.

Columbus development in the 19th century along the north bank of the Scioto River consisted of not only the Ohio State Penitentiary, just north of this site, but also much of the city’s early industry.

A primary design challenge was to recognize the local historic fabric and express this heritage in a contemporary, cost-effective, functional, multi-use R&P facility.

Although the penitentiary and most of the early buildings are gone, the design of the Pavilion at NBP has its foundation in these 19th century materials and forms. The industrial aesthetic, along with steel railroad bridges, create a design palette of building materials consisting of rough stone foundations, massive masonry walls, painted metal roofs, and exposed structural steel framing.

The redevelopment of NBP creates one of the premier viewing points of the modern Columbus skyline.  The Pavilion, the primary gathering point at the park, acknowledges and reinforces the city’s progress and development.