Beck Park, an urban park located in downtown Dallas, was built to celebrate the life of Henry C. Beck, Jr., founder of Beck Construction. Commissioned by the Beck family, the park's design was to provide tribute to Mr. Beck by the incorporation of construction materials and methods used by Beck during his career, as well as provide an oasis for downtown workers and events.

The design team consisted of family members, landscape architect, an architect and structural engineer. The park site is located on the comer of two major thoroughfares in downtown Dallas, while the other two sides are adjacent to a five-story building. The site. rectangular in shape, sloped 8 feet from one end to the other and was populated with stands of large Oak trees. Pedestrian walkways existed on all four sides of the park site. The landscape architect was the team leader and was responsible for design and choice of materials.

Working with family members, the landscape architect prepared the final design based on the concept of a rectangle within a rectangle. Within the `plaza' rectangle, two architectural concrete walls were positioned to create a separation of the rectangle into four distinctly proportioned rooms. At the intersection of the walls, a water feature was designed to serve as a focal point and to compete with surrounding traffic noise.

To position the plaza within the larger rectangular area, the landscape architect aligned the architectural concrete walls with the windows/columns spacing of the adjacent building. To take advantage of the sloped site the plaza level was established to provide easy access from the surrounding pedestrian walkways. The plaza was also positioned to avoid removal of and/or root damage to the existing trees. The walkways into the plaza are aligned schematically with the plaza rooms and connecting `doorways' through the concrete walls.

The setting of the plaza grade and its positioning on the site, required the incorporation of perimeter retaining walls, through which two of the connecting walkways passed through. The top of the retaining walls on the long sides of the plaza rectangle follow the sloping grade of the site from on end to the other.

The design intent was to also provide an open, cool, pleasing, inviting space for the downtown population to enjoy. The design intent and Mr. Beck's expertise over the years with construction materials and methods dictated the selection of park's construction materials. The concrete walls were designed to be architecturally smooth and with sharp crisp edges. The landscape architect worked closely with the project architects and structural engineer to achieve the high quality concrete finish, but also to ensure alignment of form joints and wall tics with other corresponding components of the park. For the flanking retaining walls, a Bush-hammered concrete finish was selected. Construction joints within the retaining walls align with the construction joints on the architectural concrete walls.

Material for the walkways leading into the plaza is constructed of Pennsylvania bluestone. The rectangular shaped stones in the walkways are in direct portion to the joint/form patterns on the concrete walls. Handrails are made of bronze, while the steel supports are treated with a special galvanized finished.

The design of the water feature was to provide water movement and sound as well as be reflective. Because of the unique intersection of the two architectural concrete walls and the creation of two water levels/basins the landscape architect was able to achieve the design requirement. The upper level fountain basin was designed to be reflective and the water level was set at the same level as the plaza. The lower level fountain basin was designed to accept the water flowing out of the upper level water basin (negative edge) and from a runnel atop one segment of the architectural concrete walls. The sidewalls of both the upper and lower fountain basins are made of 3/8" steel plates with a special protective galvanized finish. The main water feature of the fountain is the waterfall. The water source for the waterfall is at the opposite end of the architectural concrete wall from the discharge end. A runnel constructed of copper, carries the water to the discharge end of the wall. Crushed Pennsylvania bluestone was placed in both fountain basins to hide the concrete structure of the fountain.

In order to avoid damage to existing Oak trees, the placement of the plaza resulted in the largest room of the four being exposed to the hot Texas sun. To provide shade for the summer months, deciduous shade trees were placed within the plaza at a spacing and alignment corresponding the form joints in the architectural concrete walls. `October Glory' Maples were chosen for their growth habit and fall color.

With trees now located within the plaza, the landscape architect choose a small, colored aggregate for the surface. The aggregate surface allows for the exchange of water and oxygen to the tree roots, surface drainage, provides a non-reflective surface (for sound and light), and created a `European' atmosphere to the park.

In keeping with the simplistic design of the park, the only additional planting within the park was the addition of vines on specified sides of the architectural concrete walls, and the perimeter of the plaza planted in turf grass.

The landscape architect selected the site amenities, such as tables and chairs, trash receptacles, and benches. Permanent seating areas, designed by the landscape architect and architect, were also included. Such as the cantilevered wood benches and the monolithic concrete bench.

To be used at night and for security, landscape lighting was included in the park design. Mercury vapor down lights are located in the surrounding existing Oak trees, creating a ^,moon' light perimeter. Within the plaza, the landscape architect choose up light, metal halide fixtures for their `warm' light color and also to enrich the red hues of the maple leaves in the fall. Down light metal halide fixtures were set in selected surrounding Oak trees to provide lighting for the stone walkways.