Congratulations to Perkins&Will on their Honor Award in the Design-Built Category for Wilkins Plaza in Fairfax, VA.

This project, at the center of George Mason University’s Fairfax, VA campus creates a 1000-foot-long student life corridor that celebrates themes of well-being, diversity, racial justice, and inclusion.

The plaza plays host to student life functions, and offers opportunities for quiet reflection. With all of these elements, the eastern end of the plaza is meant to engender a communal “hang-out culture.”

The western end of the plaza is focused on emotional reflection, featuring a meditative labyrinth and a new Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial, serving as a model for bottom-up efforts to open lines of inquiry into equity and racial justice – to become a celebration of diversity and inclusion.

These social narratives tie into larger efforts towards ecological well-being at the university, including increased stormwater infiltration, adding to the campus arboretum, and enhancing pollinator habitats.