Hub Spot

215 Water Street

Completed: 2012 (Designed 2006)

Architect – substance architecture

Named for the Hubbell Family long time supporters of the Principal Riverwalk

It is the spot where FM Hubbell threw a gold piece across the river as a statement of resolution to make Des Moines his home.

The north building is a new public café pavilion.

This small structure (about 2,200 square feet on two levels) is highly public and incorporates a café space, public restrooms, and mechanical/electrical service spaces.

Its zinc skin “unfolds” to reveal a crystalline glass enclosure to the upper level cafe.

Visitors to this pavilion are provided panoramic views of the river, the State Capitol Building, and the historic East Village of Des Moines.

The more solid, lower level houses the public restrooms and service spaces.

The south building is a pump station – a piece of urban infrastructure providing flood control to the surrounding district.  It is nearly identical in size to the pavilion, but with a skin that remains closed – containing pumps, generators, and other mechanical paraphernalia with no public access.

The two buildings were considered as a pair – one open, one closed; one public, one private – that frame an important new public plaza.

substance is working with the Des Moines Public Art Foundation and internationally recognized artist, Jun Kaneko, Japanese-born Omaha, this artwork will include a series of large-scale ceramic works, called Dangos, (Dangos is a borrowed Japanese word for dumplings) and an internally illuminated glass mural on the pump station.