Recreation
The Quarry Observation Pier overlooks Winston-Salem’s once-abandoned quarry turned hidden water hole. This corten steel structure is anchored back on land with a comfort station wrapped in steel gabion holding back dry stacked granite rocks. This naturally weathering observation pier has a perforated bottom allowing light and air from all sides. Over deep blue water and lush vegetation, views back to the city and, on clear days, to Pilot Mountain make this structure worthy of any visitor’s trip to Winston-Salem.
Winston-Salem, NC
15 months
70,000 sq feet
Architecture
Once a neglected piece of land, Quarry Park’s Observation Pier has been reimagined as a welcoming, family-friendly space for the community. What was once a neighborhood eyesore, littered with graffiti and debris, is now a vibrant park where nearby residents gather to picnic, play, and enjoy over 220 acres transformed into a haven for recreation, connection, and well-being.
STITCH brings the history of Quarry Park to life in the mining-inspired vernacular of the pier and anchoring comfort station, wrapped in a steel gabion packed with dry-stacked granite rocks, as children and families from surrounding communities bring a more equitable future into playful relief.
A slow walk up a winding path leads to the Quarry Park Observation Pier, lifting the eye to a stellar view of downtown Winston-Salem and the horizon beyond. From here, a long gaze in any direction brings that grounded, verdant calm that only the outdoors can bring.
Whether you’ve come to bike, run, or meander, Quarry Park offers 6 miles of trail with 245 feet of grade change circling around 16 acres of crystal teal open water that fills the newly rehabbed granite quarry. Simply sitting on a park bench creates opportunities for new encounters, chats with neighbors, and the joy of seeing kids run, play, and imagine far away from their phones and iPads.
