Reimagining Raleigh's Civic Campus

The design of the new East Civic Tower reflects Raleigh’s stature as a 21st Century City of Innovation and offers Raleigh a vibrant, urban, inviting civic space.

This project envisions a welcoming, efficient, and human-centered home for public service in the City of Raleigh. Co-locating the city council, various city departments, and public service areas, the East Civic Tower is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Raleigh to reimagine both its civic identity as well as the day-to-day workings of city government.

Inspired by the vernacular architecture, landscape, and history of Raleigh, our design strives to foster openness in the meeting between citizens and public servants. Large daylit spaces, clear visual connections between inside and outside spaces, and the showcasing of public service adjacent to the street all express the values of an open and transparent city.

The site is located on the edge of Nash Square Park with its many native shade trees that can be enjoyed from the southern porch-inspired outdoor space and landscape terraces,

Hal Bowen AIA, LEED AP

Principal / Raleigh Studio Leader

Raleigh is a leader in fostering urban growth and innovation by championing environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability. Our design builds upon these principles and brings them to life through welcoming, human-scaled spaces that invite a vibrant public realm into the ECT,

Michael Sørensen

Partner and Design Director of Henning Larsen’s New York office

Embracing Change

Designed from the inside out, the East Civic Tower offers city employees a contemporary, adaptable, and safe workplace. As the future of the workplace will continue to evolve post-pandemic, this design offers a flexible and responsive layout for city employees as well as key spaces for social interaction and collaboration.

The architectural design is led by Henning Larsen (New York) and delivered by Architect of Record, RATIO Design (Raleigh). The team is supported by exceptionally qualified individuals from North Carolina firms and Women and Minority owned businesses, including: Lynch Mykins for Structural Engineering; Barrett Woodyard Associates for Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Controls; SEPI for Site/Civil Engineering; Lerch Bates for Vertical Transportation; Carolina Specialty Engineering for Code Consulting and Fire Protection Design; FX Design Group for TV Studio Design; SM&W for Acoustics, Audiovisual, IT and Security; F&R for Geotechnical; MBP for Cost Consultancy and Scheduling Services; Davenport for Traffic Engineering; REI for Roofing and Envelope Consulting; and, KRM for Food Service.

Henning Larsen’s award-winning portfolio showcases, among other project types, expertise in city halls and civic buildings. Most recently, the office completed the Public Service Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kiruna City Hall in northern Sweden, and the Eystur Town Hall in the Faroe Islands; current civic works in design and under construction include the Etobicoke Civic Center in Canada, and Uppsala City Hall in Sweden. Founded in 1959 in Copenhagen and opened in New York in 2017, Henning Larsen has offices in Munich, Hong Kong, Oslo, and the Faroe Islands.

RATIO Design is an award-winning design firm with studios in Indianapolis, Chicago, Denver, Raleigh, and Champaign, offering services in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, urban design, preservation, and graphic design. Founded in 1982, its collaborative studios combine professionals from all architectural disciplines to work on civic, higher education, K12 education, community, life science, workplace, lifestyle and cultural projects.