Discovery
Corner
Location: Bend, OR
Project Partners
Contractor: SunWest Builders
Landscape Contractor: Newport Avenue
Concrete Subcontractor: Bend Concrete
Photography: Cheryl McIntosh and
Marisa Chappell
SZABO collaborated closely with Bend Concrete to execute the complex grading, stairs, and stepped seatwalls that radiate from the central fire pit, coordinating numerous subtle elevation shifts around the circular plan. Concrete walls were carefully recessed to accept the mosaic setting bed, so finished tile surfaces sit flush with adjacent concrete, allowing the artwork to read as integral to the structure rather than applied decoration. Below the plaza, Silva Cells support the paving surrounding two key canopy trees, enhancing long‑term tree health while preserving generous hardscape for events.
Planting emphasizes a high desert palette, with native and adapted grasses, shrubs, and shade trees that will mature into a dappled canopy, softening the urban edges and turning the plaza inward toward its communal core. Power is distributed throughout the space for stage lighting, food trucks, holiday décor, and pop‑up programming, ensuring the plaza can host events ranging from neighborhood concerts to seasonal markets with permanent infrastructure. Together, these landscape, art, and infrastructure decisions create a four‑season civic space that reflects Discovery West’s identity and reinforces its commitment to local craft, walkability, and community life.
Discovery Corner is the social heart of Discovery West, produced by SZABO Landscape Architecture as an intimate urban plaza that anchors the neighborhood’s walkable, mixed‑use core. The design supports adjacent townhomes, ground‑floor workspaces, and retail while offering a welcoming public living room for residents and visitors in every season.
Discovery West is a new neighborhood located in Bend, Oregon and Discovery Corner occupies its densest, most urban node, where townhomes, shops, and shared amenities converge. The client asked for a plaza that would both bolster small businesses and function as a flexible community gathering place for everyday socializing, pop‑up events, and informal performances.
SZABO Landscape Architecture built upon an existing conceptual design and organized the plaza as a series of concentric circles that naturally draw people toward the center while creating generous seating, circulation, and small pockets for gathering at the edges. Broad, gently sloped walks and intermediate steps negotiate grade changes so that all primary routes remain comfortably accessible. The result is a space that promotes community interactions, from weekday coffee meetups to neighborhood celebrations.
At the heart of the plaza, a sculptural Corten steel pine cone by Oregon artist Jenny Ellsworth interprets the Discovery West logo as a six‑foot‑tall fire feature, giving the space a powerful day-and-night focal point and symbol of neighborhood identity. Encircling the fire pit, Rochelle Rose‑Schueler’s custom “Mechanical Waves” tile mosaics animate the vertical faces of the seatwalls with color and movement, echoing regional geology and the Discovery West logo’s abstracted forms. A warm Northwest palette of Corten steel, expertly finished concrete, and colored concrete pavers grounds the space in Central Oregon’s high‑desert landscape while complementing the surrounding architecture.
