Project Grace is a civic development underway that brings the Public Library and the Cape Fear Museum together within a shared, 95,000-square-foot campus in the heart of New Hanover County. Imagined as a cultural anchor for downtown Wilmington, the project strengthens connections between education, history, and public life while reinforcing the site’s role as an active, welcoming urban destination.
Stewart serves as lead landscape architect, designing a cohesive site framework that unifies the library and museum while enhancing the public realm. The landscape architecture team focused on arrival, circulation, and gathering. The team created a series of outdoor spaces that support daily use, community events, and informal learning. Streetscape improvements and site furnishings draw inspiration from Wilmington’s maritime legacy, with forms and materials that subtly reference the Cape Fear River and the region’s shipbuilding past while remaining contemporary in expression.
A signature solar canopy serves as a central organizing element within the site, providing shade and defining a flexible civic space for gathering and education. Integrated into the landscape design, the canopy supports sustainability goals by moderating daylight, contributing to energy performance, and offering a visible, experiential way for visitors to engage with sustainable design strategies. Together, the landscape and site elements reinforce Project Grace as a catalyst for continued investment, strengthening downtown Wilmington’s identity while creating long-term social, cultural, and environmental value for New Hanover County.