Fordham Plaza is the center of a vibrant shopping district, the principal public entrance to Fordham University and a regional transportation hub.  A redesign of the existing, paved plaza looked to make the plaza a more friendly and inviting place to be within the city.

The program called for a café, green market, food kiosks of varying size and green spaces in which to relax.  Challenges included a train tunnel running the length of the entire plaza upon which construction could not occur, numerous public utilities that couldn’t be altered, as well as many public agencies’ input and concerns.

The design solution calls for a café straddling the edge of the tunnel foundations and a rooftop canopy arching over the tunnel, providing shade and rain protection for the stairwells to the train platforms.  A green market canopy follows the edge of another secion of the tunnel and planters are arranged around the perimeter of the plaza and designed to be moved with a forklift to conduct bridge maintenance and inspections.