This project is designed to occupy a narrow site fronting Octavia Boulevard made vaccant by the removal of an elevated section of highway. The neighborhood is undergoing a dramatic transformation as building sites that were formerly public easements below the highway are available for development. This project is the result of a design exploration for a long narrow site (45'×120') which will front the new boulevard.
At the ground level three separate retail spaces are created to house neighborhood friendly markets, shops, or businesses. Within the upper stories of the building eleven separate residential units ranging from studios to 3 bedrooms are created. A focus for the design of the building is to create varied points of entry to give a greater sense of individual identity to the apartments. Some of the units are accessed from the side alleys that lead to semi-private gates and stairways. Attention was given to provide each apartment with outdoor deck/patio space as a feature to make urban living feel less confining and to allow opportunities for potted gardening. The outdoor spaces are interspersed throughout the building in an attempt to provide points of relief within the building massing, and to give individual character to each unit. The intention is to encourage more frequent interchange between neighbors and to provide semi-private spaces as transitions between the public realm and the apartment itself.
