When the City of Columbia, MD decided they wanted to study the concept of adding an interactive water feature to Symphony Woods Park, a heavily-wooded park which surrounds Merriweather Post Pavilion in downtown Columbia, Chris Roy was hired to create two concepts – one of which is shown here. The mature trees on the site leave a lasting impression, and the removal of several of them to make room for the feature was an understandable point of consternation among several community members. Taking this into consideration, Chris developed this concept which features several large mirror-polished stainless steel columns as well as a variety of jets and programmable LED lighting. The mirrored columns would reflect the surrounding forest, visually bringing trees back into the fountain site from where they would be removed. When the fountain runs, the columns will be coated with a thin skin of slow-flowing water, rippling and distorting the reflections of the trees as well as those of people playing within the fountain.
As a park which remains active year-round, it was important that the fountain could be enjoyed in all seasons as well. The feature was designed so that the vertical jets could be shut off and winterized while the overflowing columns would continue to flow; during the coldest months of the year, ice would form around the towers creating a series of ever-changing ice sculptures. The plumbing and collection troughs for these features was designed with heat trace to prevent water from freezing within and damaging the system.
The project was unfortunately put on hold when the County took over the project and the pavilion, but it’s a concept we are really fond of and we look forward to a finding an opportunity to use some of the concepts in a future project.
