The Pier was designed as a new icon for the City of St. Petersburg, fundamentally reframing the relationship between the City and the Bay.  In the design, twin bridges extend out and back, no longer unidirectional, but instead a circuit, allowing for a diversity of experience reflecting a more reciprocal relationship between the Pier and the surrounding waterfront.  Water is the dominant icon of the plan; a vast amenity that currently defines the city in many ways.

The new space was envisioned for the collective experiences of individuals, families, and the residents of St. Pete to gather, to play and to celebrate. The design incorporates bicycle and walking paths arcing upwards before returning to the water’s edge with the iconic canopy rising over the Bay below.  This canopy was intended to shelter the main promenade from the hot sun and the rain, welcoming visitors as they arrive on foot, on bicycle, or via the Pier Tram. Elevators and stairs were incorporated to bring visitors up to a series of viewing decks with unprecedented views of the city skyline in the distance. An oculus inscribed at the far end of the loop opens and connects the world within the Lens and Tampa Bay beyond. Patterns of light, color or even clouds would visually track across its surface and will be visible from the surrounding city. At night, the surface of the canopy was planned as an extraordinary surface for video projection, for performance, and for art.