Our Work

H&R Block World Headquarters

Kansas City, Missouri

As part of a multi-disciplinary team, Confluence was hired to assist in the design of the new corporate headquarters for H & R Block. A predominant icon of a planned entertainment district (Kansas City Power + Light District), this facility became an anchor and served as the initial phase of a major redevelopment effort in downtown Kansas City.

Confluence served as urban designer and landscape architect for a series of pedestrian plaza spaces and streetscape elements in and around the site. The primary courtyard, which is surrounded on three sides by a high rise office building, a theater for performing arts, and a training and dining facility, serves as circulations space, casual lunch space, and a venue for hosting corporate receptions. A large water feature serves as the focal piece of the space and is overlapped by a simple square arbor that has been adopted by the company as a “living logo”. This arbor, covered with vegetation, when viewed from upper level offices will contrast with the muted natural tones of the paving and become a visible green square – the well known corporate icon for H & R Block.

Confluence also assisted in site design and detailing and provided landscape and irrigation design services. Urban soil mixes were specified for all planters due to the sites location on top of an underground parking structure. Weight, drainage, moisture control, and plant survivability had to be balanced to create a successful and enduring design.

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