Squareone Atelier’s winning proposal for the Elin Pelin Town Centre Renewal reframes the civic square as a living landscape shaped by movement, memory, climate, and everyday use. The design works with the ground itself, turning it into a continuous framework that supports public life in all its forms. The project shifts the focus from monumentality to experience, where everyday routines, informal gatherings, and seasonal events define the identity of the place.
At the core of the proposal is a pedestrian civic spine, a clear and accessible ground plane that organizes the entire town centre. This spine is a path and a social structure. As people move along it, the space gradually unfolds into a sequence of zones. Areas for rest, play, gathering, and quiet retreat emerge naturally along the route. Shade structures and tree canopies soften the environment, while integrated seating and subtle water elements make the space comfortable and inviting. What begins as a simple linear movement becomes a layered experience.
Although Elin Pelin already has a generous square and key buildings, the space has long functioned more as a passage than a destination. The proposal addresses this by reorganizing the square into distinct yet connected civic zones. These zones strengthen relationships between public buildings and open spaces while allowing flexibility for future change. Instead of fixed monuments, the design introduces adaptable elements that can evolve with the town’s needs.
The landscape thickens along the spine into a series of social edges and rooms. These include shaded seating areas for older residents, informal courts for teenagers, play zones for children, and open areas that can host markets or community events. Quiet gardens and soft commercial edges blur the boundary between public and private life, encouraging everyday interaction. Even small interventions, like community gardens and informal gathering circles, help create a sense of shared ownership across generations.
Water plays a subtle but important role in the project. A seasonal water play area activates the square during warmer months while remaining functional throughout the year. Existing green spaces are reshaped into flexible amphitheaters, allowing them to host performances or events or simply provide places to sit and observe. In this way, public space is treated as essential social infrastructure.
A defining idea behind the project is “ground as memory.” The design reuses existing materials. Old paving is crushed and recast into terrazzo surfaces and concrete seating, embedding the history of the place into its future form. Warm terracotta tones, drawn from local character, reappear across the site, creating visual continuity and a sense of familiarity. These material choices do more than reduce waste; they help anchor the project in its cultural context.
Running through the centre is a dry creek, a key feature that combines infrastructure with identity. Formed from reused pavers, it traces a gentle path across the site. It manages stormwater, cools the surrounding surfaces, and helps guide movement. At the same time, it becomes a recognizable element of the town’s public realm. Inscriptions from Elin Pelin and Hristo Botev are embedded along its surface, turning everyday movement into a quiet encounter with local literature and history.
The proposal avoids spectacle in favor of durability and clarity. It is designed to be built in phases, using practical and realistic interventions that can grow over time. This allows the town centre to adapt, change, and remain relevant as community life evolves.
Elin Pelin Town Centre Renewal Project Details
Project Name: Elin Pelin Town Centre Renewal
Competition: Re:Design Elin Pelin
Location: Elin Pelin City, Bulgaria
Architecture Firm: Squareone Atelier
Lead Architects: Quoc Uong, Naranbaatar Erdenebaatar
Design Team: Quoc Uong, Naranbaatar Erdenebaatar, Quynh Vu, Anh Nguyen, Minh Nguyen, Quan Pham
Landscape: Thy Uong, Ha Hoang
Renderings: Quan Pham (Squareone Atelier), Anh Nguyen (Squareone Atelier)
Client: Elin Pelin Municipality
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