Williams Square

Williams Square was designed to be a "people place," with places along its stream where people sit and enjoy the setting, and other places near the mustangs where these magnificent creatures may be viewed up close.

Williams Square is an abstraction of a Texas landscape, a semi-arid prairie in which wild mustangs might live. These mustangs jump across an articulated watercourse that runs diagonally across the plaza, which is the length of two football fields at 300 feet by 300 feet. The plaza itself is a landscape of architecturally arranged Texas Pink and Bright Blaze granite, bringing the prairie to vivid life.

The granite was sculpted to recreate geologic layers found in the prairie. Selected grains were layered into certain positions. The watercourse flows over the granite, appearing to have eroded the stone as if over eons of geologic time. The banks are very smooth, and the bottoms is of moonstone, a black rock that causes beautiful reflections in the water, especially at night. The granite also takes on a different color when wet.

The watercourse plays a major roll in the design of Williams Square. Its widest point is about 40 feet across and about 10 feet at the narrowest point. It is about 400 feet long, and no more than 18 inches at the deepest. Its volume is 1500 gallons per minute, entirely re-circulated. There are three pedestrian crossings, one down at the lower end, two on the upper. The plaza is built on grade, with about a nine foot drop from one side to the other, so the watercourse fits naturally into the space.

Williams Square is named in honor and recognition of Dan Call Williams and his wife, Carolyn Carpenter Williams.

Williams Square and the Mustangs of Las Colinas sculpture were envisioned and commissioned by Ben H. Carpenter, then chairman and chief executive officer of the Southland Financial Corporation.

Designer of the plaza was Jim Reeves, a principal of the SWA Group. Designer of the surrounding building complex was Charles Bassett, a principal of Skidmore, Owens, Merrill, San Francisco.