The square is surrounded by council buildings, each with a distinctive architectural style: Wellington Town Hall and council offices, the Michael Fowler Centre, the Central Library, the City-to-Sea bridge, and the City Gallery. The main tiled area is the roof of the underground library car park.The square is paved with yellow terracotta bricks and has an iconic Neil Dawson sculpture, a 3.4 metre diameter sphere using sculpted leaves of several ferns endemic to New Zealand, suspended 14 metres over its centre. The wide City-to-Sea pedestrian bridge acts as a gateway from Civic Square to Wellington's waterfront.The square is used for public events and is a popular place for office workers to eat their lunch on warm summer days.