We are excited to have our work on Monument Circle in Indianapolis featured in Fast Company. From a temporary park to future planning, we are working with the City and many downtown partners to think about the city’s most iconic and beloved public space. You can read more here.
Building Sports & Entertainment Districts for People
We were recently featured in Fast Company with 10 other designers discussing what needs redesigned in 2026. With all of the development happening across the country focused on new sports and entertainment districts, we are thinking about a people-first, human-scaled, every-day approach to design. You can read more below and at the article here.
In the late ’90s and early 2000s, large-scale entertainment and sports districts were built in cities across America. These areas were designed with one very lucrative function in mind: to cater to massive crowds of sparsely scheduled mega events. But the other hundreds of days a year, these spaces sit largely empty with limited activity or use.
Today we have an opportunity to redesign these districts so that they not only accommodate dynamic, memorable, and safe experiences around game days, concerts, and conferences, but also support people who want to sit with a coffee in the middle of a Tuesday or meet friends for a live performance, art class, or outdoor movie screening on the weekend.
To do this, we need to introduce flexibility and comfort. Multipurpose plazas can cater to large events but also provide comfort day-to-day with furniture and features that serve many purposes. Imagine a large plaza designed for a tailgating crowd but also designed to transform with lots of moveable furniture under a shaded tree canopy for gathering on a non-event day. Stepped wooden platforms can be used as a stage or also for seating or play. Wide sidewalks with large trees for shade and street furniture (e.g. benches, planters, bike racks, lighting) create great urban streets while also being designed for crowd security and protection.
As we head into a multiyear period of American cities preparing for mega events like the World Cup, the Olympics, and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, designers working on event spaces should remember that the motivation to rehabilitate these places shouldn’t be either function for large events or daily life. It’s both. Enduring urban spaces should be able to do it all.
The Great Downtown Renaissance in Dwell
We were thrilled to see some of our work featured in Dwell as part of their yearlong 25th-anniversary celebration of the people, places, and ideas they have championed over the years. The work featured in Indianapolis including the Georgia Street renovation, City Market redevelopment, and Monument Circle transformation is the result of many leaders collaborating for years to make downtown Indianapolis a great city to live, work and play. You can read the article and explore what other cities are doing to transform their downtowns here.
Join Our Team!
Merritt Chase is currently seeking an Associate Landscape Architect with approximately 3-5 years of experience to join our team. We are looking for a thoughtful Landscape Architect who is collaborative, has excellent design sensibilities, and a strong technical background. The ideal applicant will be located in our Indianapolis office.
More information about the position can be found here.
Canal Basin Park wins Ohio ASLA Award of Excellence!
The City of Cleveland, Canalway Partners, and Merritt Chase are pleased to announce that the Ohio Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (OCASLA) has awarded the 2025 Award of Excellence to Canal Basin Park!
The OCASLA Award is a wonderful recognition of the collective work of so many people in Cleveland. We could not be more thrilled to share the process and the project with the landscape architecture community. Thank you to the OCASLA jury and team.
Nina Chase featured in Madame Architect
In a recent interview, Julia Gamolina of Madame Architect, talks with Nina Chase about the importance of public spaces, seeing futures, and making local contributions.
“As landscape architects, we also have the unique ability to see spaces through time. Trees grow, cities morph, climates change. Our work has to anticipate change over time and design for it.”
Check out the article here.
North Shore Plaza Construction Continues!
Construction progress continues on the new North Shore Plaza in Pittsburgh as we work toward an anticipated opening in the Spring of 2026.
The plaza will create a new entertainment destination and social gathering space in Pittsburgh. The plaza is designed for large events and programming but also provides much needed public green space for the North Shore community. Small garden areas with large shade trees frame the plaza with wood platforms and moveable seating allowing flexible uses throughout the year.
The project team includes the Pittsburgh Pirates, HiLife Hospitality, Sports and Exhibition Authority, Barker Nestor, Langan, and Continental Building Company. Photos by Kristian Thacker.
Can Pop-up Urbanism Spark Lasting Design Legacy?
For Azure Magazine Nina Chase and Chris Merritt explored what has become a guiding ethos for our work at Merritt Chase - that we should be reimagining how we see and approach temporary placemaking (or whatever else you want to call it - tactical urbanism, DIY city-building, or pop-up urbanism) both as an opportunity to bring meaningful design to the placemaking process and for its potential as one of the most useful tools communities and designers have to drive long term transformation of public spaces.
“As landscape architects, we’re increasingly emphasizing an approach that integrates innovative short term design, activation and research with traditional long term planning and design — as seen through our projects like Monument Circle. Our work spans from long-term, built landscape projects to short-term activations, temporary installations, and community engagements. This holistic approach is intended to ensure that the public spaces we create are shaped by research, history, and meaningful community input. What does this design process look like? What can the long-term impacts be?“
Check out the full article here.
Chris Merritt and Nina Chase talk to The Urbanist
Chris and Nina sat down with Andrew Tuck from Monocle Radio’s The Urbanist to discuss how cities across Middle America are transforming their streets. Check out the episode here.
Summer Promotions!
We are excited to share summer promotions for our office. Congratulations and thank you Alex, Craig, Gabi, and Danica! These four are incredibly talented, thoughtful and creative, and a true pleasure to work with.
Alex Kelley, Senior Associate - Alex has been leading the design and implementation of the Indianapolis City Market West Plaza, White River Farm, Canal Basin Park, and the Park at 16 Tech.
Craig Rowe, Senior Associate - Craig has been leading the design of the Treeline District Park in Fort Wayne and construction of Georgia Street in Indianapolis.
Gabriella Rodriguez, Senior Designer - Gabi has been leading the design of the Columbus Downtown Entrance Plaza and West End Bridge Connector Parks in Pittsburgh.
Danica Liongson, Associate - Danica is a newly licensed landscape architect in Indianapolis and has been managing continued work on Monument Circle, the Park at 16 Tech, and Monumental Gestures, a new public art initiative in downtown Indianapolis.
Check out our About page for more background on the team.