Chicago, IL, United States
Our design concept seeks the necessary solutions to ensure the eventual residents of the project and those in the neighborhood can achieve their best outcomes –health, education, social, and economic. We pushed our design concept to maximize the site and create programmed and “pop” up concepts that aim to ensure a sense of place for residents, business owners, patrons, and visitors of the project and the site. The massing is formally a single building split into two separate developments to maximize the potential for retail frontage and pedestrian engagement. The central pedestrian promenade creates a sense of visual rest and spatial interest along the long Ogden Avenue. To allow for numerous activities to support the development, but specifically, ample space for “pop-up” retail and performance space for locals to share, entertain, and grow their brands and businesses, our proposal extends the pedestrian thoroughfare by eliminating the frontage lane along Ogden Avenue.
The design concept achieves multiple layers of the “public realm”. In the most literal sense, the design has a truly public plaza at the ground level, a semi-public or communal plaza above the retail on the second floor, and a private realm at each ascending balcony. By extending the pedestrian plaza over the Ogden Ave frontage lane, this space becomes more robust for the pedestrian and the potential activities that may take place, while also slowing down vehicular traffic and increasing pedestrian safety. This highly active zone is the most public and will have many amenities including benches, lighting, gathering space, performance space, pop-up retail space, and landscaping. The semi-public realm at the second-floor roof terrace at both the office and residential components will also be highly active and will include amenities such as seating, lounging, grilling, fire pits, lighting, and landscaping. These amenities will draw many people towards the activity of Ogden and create a sense of safety and security. Lastly, the private realm of balconies which are specific to the residential units and office space, is in and of itself a unique amenity, drawing more people out and creating ample “eyes on the street”.
The fifty affordable residential rental units, will share a programmed common area containing high quality amenities to ensure residents have space to live, learn, relax, and engage with each other. Amenities include a sizable community room with hosting kitchen, computer lab with private telehealth/compu-health rooms, bike storage, storage units, onsite management and maintenance, and access to the second-floor roof terrace that will include areas for seating, lounging, grilling, fire pits, environmental lighting, and landscaping. Office and retails space, in addition to the pop-up opportunities, will include a combination of traditional and creative spaces designed and constructed to meet the needs of national organizations and local mom and pop operations.
AWARDS + RECOGNITION
