The public space of the city is one of the important drivers of sociality. It should be open and accessible to everyone. Sidewalks, public squares, squares, squares, parks are all types of spaces. Its important functions are recreational, communication, political and entertainment. Successful public squares in the city attract people, social life and cultural exchange take place in them. If a space does its job well, it's a good indicator of the team of architects, landscape designers, and engineers who worked on it. One of the most interesting and at the same time socially responsible projects, on which the "MOST" team worked, is the project of reconstruction of the square near the "Zlata Plaza" shopping center. In the fall of 2018, the director of the shopping center approached the workshop with a desire to redevelop the square.

Our work, first of all, began with a detailed urban study. Before proposing our ideas, we studied the square: how it is used, analyzed and counted foot traffic. We observed how people behave, tried to understand what are the features, opportunities, advantages and disadvantages of this area and what affects it. The square near the "Zlata Plaza" shopping center is one of the most visited in the city. The location is in the center, near important city objects - Resurrection Cathedral, Lebedinka Park, close to the main Independence Square. Nearby, main train stops and active city streets at the intersection of major pedestrian transits, they shape it as one of the most important in the city. However, this area is quite compact in size, which makes it more cozy and intimate. A detailed urban analysis gave us an understanding of the important processes that took place in the square. In order to better understand how the citizens interact with this place, we watched several hours of video from the mall's surveillance cameras, analyzed pedestrian traffic and counted flows (how and where people move). This calculation showed that about 42,000 people were around the square in a day, with about half of them not directly interacting with the square. One of the reasons was the presence of obstacles on the transits, including steps, fences, or structures that prevented access to the square, such as from the pedestrian crossing on Sobornia. People were forced to go around, resting on the stairs. Thus, the square, despite being located in the center, was separated from the adjacent areas (sidewalks to Lebedinka and along Soborna) by barriers: canopy structures, fences left over from the rink, stairs at the entrances. Also, the location of the booth with the stage, which was placed in the square, was a narrow place that made it difficult to move during mass events.

An important point was the fact that the square was kept pedestrianized, unlike the squares near other Rivne shopping centers, where such places have been turned into parking lots. Considering these factors and the results of the research, we formed the principles on the basis of which we made decisions about redevelopment. 1) accessibility - unhindered access to the area for everyone regardless of physical capabilities and social status, 2) integration - removal of obstacles and maximum integration with the surrounding urban areas, 3) orderliness of functions - taking into account different scenarios of use, 4) comfort and aesthetics - means design to make a high-quality, modern public space in which you want to linger, 5) the win-win principle - as the redevelopment took place with private funds, it was important to ensure a balance in which the investor gets a modern area next to his shopping center with a greater number of visitors. One of the most daring and cost-effective solutions to make the square more open and convenient was the reconstruction of the canopy above the entrances to the underground part of the mall with the installation of a "bridge" that would allow entering the square directly from the pedestrian crossing along Sobornia. At first we doubted whether the customer would agree to implement it from the point of view of the invested funds, but we were very lucky and he agreed :). Also, one of the first decisions was the installation of a ramp to the main entrance to the shopping center, and later on the stairs leading from the square to "Lebedinka", which significantly improved accessibility for people with reduced mobility. Also, no less important - the dismantling of the stage booth and fences, which in the future made the square more open.

While working on the layout, we wanted to preserve the open part as much as possible - but also add places to sit, making the stay more cozy and comfortable. And also, take into account different scenarios of use: holding a Christmas market and placing a Christmas tree, organizing various events, such as food fests or fairs. At the same time, certain restrictions had to be taken into account: the basement floor of the shopping center is located under the square, which imposes restrictions on the placement of landscaping or the organization of water drainage from the square, as well as the location of engineering structures - ventilation shafts and emergency exits, which should have been included in the design of the square. Several layout options were worked out. The square has an irregular shape, and in order to organize and bring together the general perception in a certain way, we decided on the layout option with stripes. These strips are formed around the perimeter of the square using a combination of different types of paving by color, a combination of paving and landscaping, as well as the use of linear street furniture - benches. This technique made it possible to separate the recreation area from the open part.

On the square, benches of the linear type are used, on which it is convenient to observe how the square lives. Some of them have sloping concrete inserts that simulate the transition to paving. We did not want to overload the area with different zones, so there is no separate playground for children. At the same time, the goal was to make the created space as interesting, safe and friendly as possible for children: to run freely, observe others, explore plants. But one element - the lasagna bench was designed to a greater extent for the needs of children, that is how it is used. All street furniture, such as: benches, trash cans, bike racks - individually made by the local workshop "Wood Play".

An important task was to arrange landscaping on the square. Since this place is the roof of the basement floor, it is not possible to plant trees directly in the soil. Therefore, in the first phase of the reconstruction of the part of the square from the Resurrection Cathedral, trees were planted in concrete tubs. And then they decided to increase the thickness of the soil by installing retaining walls. They were also used to arrange benches for sitting. When selecting types of green plantings, they tried to select decorative species that could grow on a small layer of soil, but at the same time add volume. Therefore, the lawns that were previously on the square were abandoned. At the moment, the landscaping of the square is formed by decorative grasses-miscanthus - in strips, Pisardi plums - in concrete tubs, groups of various perennial herbs (geranium, perovskia, pennisetum, miscanthus, etc.) and bushes (juniper, barberry) with accents (multi-stemmed Irga Lamarcka ) - in the supports, and soil cover plates - on the roof of the evacuation entrances. Currently, the greening of the square near the Zlata Plaza shopping center is one of the best examples of greening in the city. Decisions and plant care from the customer played a big role in this: high-quality planting material was selected, irrigation and drainage of green areas was provided, constant maintenance was carried out: pruning, replacement, planting of plants.

A separate task was to fit into the general style of the square engineering structures, constructions and temporary structures located on the square. For the solutions of temporary structures, we tried to use a common style using solid glazing to make them less visible. The ventilation shafts are made in the same style of dark composition to make them visually smaller. The roof of the evacuation exits, which we called "snails" due to their special shape, was made green with the planting of groundcover clearings. Special attention should be paid to the engineering solutions adopted, which are invisible at first glance and allow the square to function better. In particular, our engineer calculated various options for the construction of the bridge and canopies above the entrances to the underground level of the shopping center. Also, special attention was required for the design of roof waterproofing units, surface drainage, drainage, connecting new elements to existing structures and installation of sloping green roofs.

During the reconstruction of the square, decorative lighting of benches, supports, bridges and trees was envisaged. The lamps in the lanterns and the backlight were selected with a warm light source to create a more cozy atmosphere in the evening. In general, the work on the reconstruction of the square, from the beginning of research to the completion of construction work, lasted from 2018 to 2021. The solution and work project was implemented in stages, which in general had a positive effect on the final result. Because it made it possible to observe how the changes affect the area, how the conceived ideas can be physically implemented, which allowed to take into account the previous experience and adopt a better option. In this project, we actively supervised the author's implementation and cooperated with supervision from the customer. This is one of the good examples in the practice of MOST, when the technical supervision from the customer expertly controlled the process. And the team of contracting construction organizations was, in the vast majority, professional and focused on the high-quality implementation of the planned solutions.

The work on the redevelopment of the square near the "Zlata Plaza" shopping center became a responsible and interesting experience for the "MOST" workshop. But the most important thing is that with the cool cooperation and support of the customer, we managed to realize a high-quality public space that is used by all citizens. Now we enjoy and observe how the renovated square lives and functions, remaining one of the best examples of redevelopment of public spaces in the city. "European" not only by the name (after the recent renaming), but also by the values realized by the project. The following worked on the project: Olena Konoval, Olga Shevchuk, Olena Pinchuk, Maria Golyuk, Olga Omelkovets, Andriy Nychyporuk, Petro Stepniuk, Dmytro Kotlyarov.