NINE EAST 33RD BALTIMORE, MD AIA MARYLAND Category: Mixed-use Development
SITE/CONTEXT Directly across from Charles Commons, a mixed-use residence hall designed by the same team 10 years earlier, this phase two 1.1 acre, vacant corner, site is at the heart of Charles Village. With context ranging from 2 to 12 stories, the site’s varied surroundings of institutional buildings, apartments, rowhomes, and disjointed retail lies one block from the expansive Johns Hopkins University campus.
PROGRAM Retail = 30,000 SF Residents = 570 beds/157 units Parking = 65 spaces
DESIGN GOALS Transform Charles Village into a vibrant 24/7 walkable neighborhood, rivaling the livelihood of premier peer institution college towns. Bring town and gown together by designing an engaging development for the surrounding campus and community to enjoy. Encourage investment in future mixed-use and appropriately dense typologies that foster a strong sense of place.
DESIGN SOLUTION An outward looking building that reinforces the genius loci of Charles Village. URBAN DESIGN BUILDS UPON NATURAL CAPITAL Having designed phase one 10 years prior, the design team’s understanding of the University/ neighborhood relationship, coupled with a ‘transformative’ goal, demanded an initial macro level study of the Village’s natural capital. A 40-block analysis of street-level program led to the recommendation adaptive reuse of adjacent existing buildings and suggested phasing for present and future connective street level programming. Correcting the single-use housing blocks of the past, the design called for continuous street-level retail and restaurants flanking both sides of primary thoroughfares, while modest lobbies provide access to elevated residential and institutional amenities that highlight activity within the building and interact with the community from above. MARRYING CONTEXTUALISM WITH MODERNISM Building upon phase one’s mixed-use success, this building maximizes the continuous presence of 30,000 SF of retail frontage, locating all services and garage access on the alley. While modest in square footage, the grand 2-story residential lobby leads to the second level clubhouse and linear street-front terrace. Fully glazed, the clubhouse’s raw urban aesthetic comes alive in the evening for full visual engagement with the street below. 10 stories above house 2, 3, and 4 BR marketrate apartments targeting upperclassmen.
10- and 12-story wings mitigate contextual height differences, while base, middle, and top articulation reference the context’s oft neo-classical proportions. Bay windows recall adjacent residential fenestration proportions, while floor to ceiling glazing and playful bay window patterns enhance unit individuality. Granite and red masonry nod to the University’s Georgian style. Charcoal precast frame masonry planes float above the floorto-ceiling glass base. The use of metal panel and 2-story glazing units mark a distinctly modern aesthetic. Horizontal and vertically paired windows reduce the visual scale of the building through less individual windows. URBAN WINDOWS CONNECT BACK TO COMMUNITY Juxtaposing the typical student housing trend of locating study lounges at inside corner/ poorly lit locations, three 24/7 multi-story study lounges are located at the building corners, focusing residents back to campus from levels 5 and 6, Charles Village from levels 9 and 10, and Baltimore’s skyline from levels 11 and 12. Framed out with cast stone, these 2-story spaces act as urban windows for this interactive 24/7 residential community. Overall, the building’s modern expression aims to maximize visual connectivity using multistory window patterns and a mix of 2-story communal spaces on each corner and levels throughout the building. The energy created by the 2-story glazed base carries up through the building, and is further enhanced by its glow at night, which exude its communal and active qualities to the neighborhood from street level to the top floors.
INTERSECTION OF ST. PAUL AND 33RD STREET
CURRENT SITE
URBAN STRATEGY - BUILD UPON UNIVERSITY AND NEIGHBORHOOD CAPITAL
PHASE I COMMONS
SITE
CHARLES VILLAGE STREETSCAPE VISION
SITE STRATEGY - TRANSFORM STREETLIFE THROUGH ENGAGING PROGRAMMING + STREETSCAPE DESIGN
PROGRAM
STREET LEVEL
2ND LEVEL AMENITY
COURTYARD
BUILDING STRATEGY - INFORMED BY NATURAL AND BUILT CAPITAL
CAMPUS/ KEYSER QUAD VIEW
CITY VIEWS
MASSING
CAMPUS
NEIGHBORHOOD
2-STORY LOUNGES CONNECT VIEWS TO CAMPUS, NEIGHBORHOOD AND SKYLINE
CONCEPT SKETCH
RESIDENTIAL ENTRY WITH 2ND LEVEL CLUBHOUSE AND URBAN TERRACE
MAXIMIZE STREETSCAPE VITALITY
EXPANSIVE RETAIL, LIVING ROOM AND LOUNGE GLAZING CREATES ENERGY AND TRANSPARENCY THROUGHOUT FACADE
10,000 SF ANCHOR RETAIL WITH GREEN ROOF ABOVE
CONCEPT SKETCH LOUNGE
CLUBHOUSE TERRACE CONTINUOUS RETAIL RESIDENTIAL LOBBY
2-STORY RETAIL JEWEL BOXES WITH CONTINUOUS GREEN ROOF ABOVE
CONTEXTUAL MASSING WITH MODERN DETAILS
2-STORY LOFT LOUNGES CAPITALIZE ON PROMINENT CONTEXT VIEWS
INTEGRATED LOBBY RECEPTION DESK AND STAIR
2ND LEVEL OPEN PLAN CLUBHOUSE
CLUBHOUSE LIVING ROOM
CLUBHOUSE OVERLOOKING CHARLES VILLAGE
LOUNGE LOFT
TYPICAL UNIT SKYLINE VIEW LOUNGE