Time of day – 5:56-7:00 pm october 6, 2012
Ellis square is one of the first four squares built in the city of savannah by James Oglethorpe. It is located on Barnard and Congress street. After being torn down and renovated it created an urban plaza and a place of relaxation in the middle of busy streets in savannah.
Zone A
The visitors center – is one of the first LEED certified projects made almost entirely out of glass panels and a angle roof. The building was designed for sustainability, which it features an VRV (variable refrigerant volume) system which independently operates the heating and cooling unit and it does not need an internal plant room. Also the lighting is controlled by daylight. Inside there are informational interactive touch screens which help users navigate through Ellis square. Its atmosphere is cold and distant, not inviting. The elevators are beside the visitors center and are not completely visible. There are three tables facing the center of the square.
Cafe Gelatohh – The space occupied by this cafe is just part of a larger building on city market. On the outside the exposed brick material look fairly clean and a different shade of brick color on the first floor, but from the second floor up it gets dirtier. The barred rail on the stairs has different shades of black paint. The building has forest green colored curtains with the restaurant logo.
Zone B
This zone is the farthest from the center of the square and also has the lowest flow of people. It consists of four aluminum tables with chairs and the flooring is gravel. It is located on a corner facing the exposed brick and metal building of the hotel Andaz and the new heavily structured building. Facing the parking space of the new building almost hidden is the chess area, consisting of black and white tiles where users could play chess with oversized chess pieces. This chess area has two wood and steel benches facing it.
Zone C
This zone faces congress street and the bar Retro on Congress. Just like zone B, this area also consists of tables with gravel flooring.
Sorry charlies- this two story brick building which from the outside looks abandoned. It connects with w saint julian street, this street however has been turned into a small clustered alley, one side being the back of the restaurant lady and sons and the other the fence for the
Anitas fashion/grateful hound/terra cota/kitchens on the square- The building faces Barnard st and like most retail buildings in savannah, this building is shared with three stores and the second floor is loft spaces. Unlike many building around Ellis square the color is light yellow but the material is brick. The displays on the stores are clustered with all of the items a tourists could be interested in.
Zone D
This zone has one the most important things of Ellis square which is the bronze statue of johnny mercer. This is a major attraction, tourists always take pictures with it because of his casual and inviting posture.
Wild wings cafe- this two-story brick building houses the famous wild wings, it has navy blue, cadmium and yellow curtains the same colors as the sing with the logo. The building also has a small porch for dining outside. The bricks on the exterior look dirty, it has signs of filtering and left over rush from the external piping. On the side it has news paper containers which mostly go unnoticed. There are no parking sings everywhere but people seem to ignore them because there is no parking in savannah. Their clientele are usually tourists and sports fans.
Gallery- The ivory and green exteriors go with the green curtains. Unlike all the other blocks this building has no trees. From the outside one can see the art and space inside. The place looks empty a lot of the times and one lady sits on the computer. It is a three story building with 20 large windows. There is pay to park in front of it.
Zone E
This zone of the square consists of a grass area, an interactive fountain and stairs. It is an area where they are mostly families with small children around the ages of 3-8 and dog-owners. The three-step stairs that surround this area have a long tread and smaller riser which gives users an opportunity to use them as seats. Around the fountain are there is a low wall which divides it from the grass area. This space if seen in aerial view has the shape of an asymmetric ellipse which divides each zone.