Description

A key element of the space is the change in level, around one storey, between The Triangle at the lower level and Selfridges at the upper level. To cope with this, the square has been divided into two plazas; a main one outside of the Selfridges store and a much smaller one in front to the Triangle. The change in level between the two is negotiated by a series of gently sloping ramps, each a different length and bordered by low squat walls. The upper plaza is mainly of black riven granite and features stationary railway truck seats on stainless steel rails. A line of tall, tilting, steel windmills is set in front of Selfridges.

The lower plaza is of buff coloured Yorkshire 'pudding stone'. An abstracted stream curves across the plaza, reflecting the facade of the Corn Exchange and the route of the long buried Hanging Ditch, a stream which ran just south of the present site. The stream is filled with blocks of Welsh slate in crazy paving, between which water from small jets bubbles to suggest flowing water, though it is in fact a fountain. A line of birch trees also follows the line of the stream.

At night the whole space is animated by illumination effects. Lights set in the ramps gently change colour (green, blue pink and white) as do the lighting tubes set in track bed underneath the railway truck seating on the upper level.