Urban Design: Infill

― Transformative Urban Infill

Respecting the past, shaping the future.

Front Cover: Scranton Peninsula Master Plan, Project Thunderbird, Cleveland, OH

Left: Turner Field Neighborhoods LCI, City Of Atlanta & Invest Atlanta, Atlanta, GA

― Transformative Urban Infills

Envisioning sites of opportunity.

We reenergize communities by crafting engaging spaces, dynamic neighborhoods, and innovative infrastructure. We draw upon place, history, and experience to bring a new vision for positive change, and a concrete plan for how to achieve it.

Designing places, reflecting values

We understand the tapestry of an urban district. Interweaving new open spaces and transit corridors unleash a city’s potential to spark the exchange of ideas and business, and to grow.

Urban districts exist at the intersection of many different interests, and so our engagement with public/private partnerships looks ahead to create long-term solutions for development and regeneration.

Selected Projects

The Packing District

Orlando, Florida

Client: Dr. Phillips Foundation

Size: 202 acres (82 hectares)

Completion Date: Ongoing

― WHAT IT IS

A comprehensive branded master plan that tells the dynamic story of a neighborhood’s past, present, and future.

― WHAT MAKES IT COOL

Plan Explorations

Alternative 1

Focus on History

Celebrating the site’s rich history allows stories, both new and old, to emerge from the historic industrial buildings. The result is a hyper-local plan that uses a community’s past to help shape their future.

The Dr. Phillips Foundation’s mission, informed by his family’s vision, drove every design decision.

To weave a rich narrative of the Dr. Phillip’s history and heritage into the design, the team undertook a process of discovery and learning, with dialogue around vision, storytelling and research.

Alternative 2

Create a Campus

Building on the identity of the College Park neighborhood within the plan, we centered the campus on a large public park, offering green space connections between buildings for students and faculty.

Alternative 3

Blur the Lines

Blurring the lines between indoors and out, large open spaces invite daylight and create dynamic views and experiences.

Turner Field Stadium Neighborhoods Livable Centers Initiative Plan

Atlanta, Georgia

Client: City Of Atlanta & Invest Atlanta

Size: 1,340 acres (542 hectares)

Completion Date: 2016

― WHAT IT IS

A comprehensive community planning and engagement initiative around the former Braves stadium, encompassing several of the city’s historic neighborhoods.

The plan is at the intersection of some of Atlanta’s most ambitious programs, in an area that includes the 1996 Centennial Olympic Stadium (now home to the Braves) and several historic neighborhoods negatively impacted by urban renewal projects.

The final design offered three different plans. Each respected the site’s DNA as well as the respective goals of the community, the developer, and city businesses.

The client and community vision, the market, and an understanding of the site came together to form planning principles that guided priorities.

To harness the power of the community around the vision, our planning team created an innovative public engagement exercise, Activity Visioning, designed to allow the team to understand the level of development desired while continuously informing the community of all the possible services and amenities.

― WHAT MAKES IT COOL

Expansive public green spaces connect a variety of residences, from single family homes to high-rise apartments, creating a diverse neighborhood culture centered on well-being.

With information gathered from Activity Visioning, we also created Activity Score, an algorithm that synthesizes population and density data to create a single score. This informed our team’s people-centered decisions on public transit nodes, building height and park placement, among others.

Scranton Peninsula Master Plan

Cleveland, Ohio

Client: Project Thunderbird (a developer consortium)

Size: 25 acres (10 hectares)

Completion Date: 2017

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The plan creates a dense pedestrian-oriented neighborhood with expansive views of the river on three sides, creating a unique waterfront experience.

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Today, the Peninsula is surrounded by vibrancy.

― WHAT IT IS A 100-year vision for a former industrial site on the Cuyahoga River.

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The site today offers sweeping views of the city, architecture that broadcasts the site’s industrial past, as well as intimate enclosures where nature has begun to reclaim.

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The plan extends the waterfront experience deep into the Peninsula through a series of “slipway” pedestrian paths and linear gardens.

Not only are the views naturally spectacular, but they are designed to orient visitors to the downtown Cleveland skyline.

Scranton Penninsula Master Plan

A continuous public waterfront will culminate in a world-class park on the southern edge that will connect more neighborhoods to the expanding riverfront park system.

3005 Democracy Way (Mission Point)

Santa Clara, California

Client: Genzon Investment Group / Kylli, Inc.

Size: 48 acres (19 hectares)

Completion Date: 2019

― WHAT IT IS

A mixed-use urban neighborhood that blends the convenience of urban living with greenspace and nature.

New open spaces, including recreation fields, gardens and plazas support community gatherings, regional connectivity and environmental stewardship, and a healthy lifestyle for all.

The plan envisions a community rising from a balanced and diverse mix of neighbors and businesses.

Platinum Corridor Urban Design Study

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Client: University Place Associates

Completion Date: 2018

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Major new gathering spaces at each end of the corridor join enhanced pedestrian edges along every street. Our design seamlessly integrates branding so visitors and entrepreneurs can find their way around the district.

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A robust public realm anchors the new development along the corridor.

― WHAT IT IS

A highly sustainable, inclusive urban community— and a model for developing collaborative entrepreneurship.

Platinum Commons

Gateway Green

The Platinum Corridor engages with the surrounding residential communities and the vibrant university and healthcare campus neighbors.

Platinum Corridor

The District is guided by six key principles:

Express the Platinum Corridor identity as the new center for sustainability, community, and innovation in West Philadelphia.

Honor the history and culture of the community.

• Create jobs and economic opportunity for the West Philadelphia community.

Establish a model of sustainable design and resilience.

• Curate a legible identity for the corridor. Create a cohesive design language for architecture and the public realm.

Power District Redevelopment Plan

Client: Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency

Size: 17.7 acres (7.2 hectares)

Completion Date: 2013

― WHAT IT IS

Gainesville, Florida ←

Both repurposed old buildings and new buildings flow around plazas and a well-loved community garden. →

The Plan aims to achieve greater density and vitality while preserving the distinct industrial character of the area

A vision for repurposing a former powerplant district, creating a new Gainesville destination.

1. Warehouse Adaptive Reuse

2. Existing Catalyst Building

3. Kiosk (Typical)

4. Plaza and Public Parking

5. Fleet Building Adaptive Reuse

6. Neighborhood Serving Lots

7. Plaza

8. McRorie Community Garden

9. Sweetwater Branch Creek (Opened to Daylight)

10. Overflow Parking

Power District Redevelopment Plan

By re-imagining existing models that often isolated urban communities through walls and borders, our new development breaks down walls, allowing for free movement of people and ideas.

1. Break the single structure into small segments that can be owned and developed by different people.

2. Take each segment and make smaller buildings on their own development plots.

3. Reorganize the buildings into a dense urban fabric.

4. Establish a series of micro-blocks laced with public streets and circulation paths.

Buildings: Density Done Differently

Public Space: A Community Destination

Users and Owners: Mixed Use, Mixed User

Phasing: Incremental Implementation

Standard Approach:

Max Potential Phasing: 1

# of Building Types: 1

Micro-Block Approach:

Max Potential Phasing: 4+

# of Building Types: 8+

For more information, contact:

urbandesign@perkinswill.com