Research Triangle Park – Duda|Paine Architects, a leading international design firm, celebrated the groundbreaking of Horseshoe at Hub RTP for the Research Triangle Foundation and White Point Partners in Research Triangle Park, NC. This innovative, mixed-use project will redefine and reinvigorate RTP with 30,000 square feet of on-site restaurants and retail, unparalleled access to the outdoors and nearby trails, and 120,000 square feet of creative office space.
As the first phase of the 100-acre Hub RTP development, the two-block Horseshoe project will transform the work-life experience. By orienting the office building and two retail pavilions in a U-shaped configuration, the architecture shapes a central landscaped plaza. This public space allows people to gather during and after work hours with access to extensive outdoor amenities, including trails, bridges, a meadow wetland, a splash pad for kids and spaces for families to gather. A small event lawn will host concerts and other performances. Artwork curated into niches in ground level façades, along organic pathways, in the ground surface and in landscaped berms and sunken terraces further animates the complex. Open views offer easy navigation and encourage exploration. The “high tech meets nature” theme is reflected in Hub RTP’s location along a network of creeks, trails and naturalized outdoor space on the site’s western edge. Extensive access to the outdoors at the ground level and via balconies and terraces for office levels distinguishes the Horseshoe development in this market.
Duda|Paine created the original planning document for RTP’s Guiding Principles to further the vision of the area’s founders, who sought to shape a place where research communities could come together and invent the future. The architectural character of Horseshoe at Hub RTP is rooted in this forward-thinking mission and North Carolina’s culture.
“Horseshoe at Hub RTP is going to be the heart and soul of this project because it’s where people will gather, build community and use the outdoor amenities. It’s extending the public open spaces and incorporating them into the development,” said Principal-in-Charge Sanjeev Patel, AIA. “It’s not just for people who work at RTP, but people who will use these amenities on the weekends and nights. The design is open and inviting to the surrounding community, so folks driving from Durham or Raleigh will see Horseshoe as a destination to take the family, go out for dinner or enjoy the outdoors.”