ACCESS AND LIVABILITY Re-establishing Urban Fabric: Spaghetti Junction
RE-ESTABLISHING URBAN FABRIC N ASH V IL L E’S EMERGING E ASTG AT E NEIGHBORHOOD
This book was designed and written by Sarah Ripple, Design Fellow. Significant contributions were provided by Gary Gaston, Design Director; Eric Hoke and Bryan Obara, Design Fellows; and Justin Ostrander, Intern, of the Nashville Civic Design Center.
The mission of the Nashville Civic Design Center is to elevate the quality of Nashville’s built environment and to promote public participation in the creation of a more beautiful and functional city for all. Towards this end, the Nashville Civic Design Center:
Contributing author TK Davis, Associate Professor at University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Architecture and Design (UT CAD).
Promotes the Ten Principles of The Plan of Nashville, a vision for growth and development, created and endorsed by the citizens of Nashville;
This book was edited by Gary Gaston, Design Director, and Julia Fry Landstreet, Executive Director, Nashville Civic Design Center; Michael Skipper, Executive Director, and Mary Beth Ikard, Communications Director, Nashville Area MPO. The Nashville Civic Design Center would like to give special thanks to TK Davis and the UTK CAD students, and the Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management (Real Estate Development Program), Thomas McDaniel, and the Vanderbilt students.
Educates the public about civic design through lectures by prominent speakers and workshops; Provides professional staff and highly-qualified design interns to consult on civic and other community development projects;
www.civicdesigncenter.org
Facilitates public dialogue about civic design and its impact through the Urban Design Forum. The Forum meets monthly at the Civic Design Center, provides events, lectures and an open forum for the debate of ideas and issues of interest to its members;
October 2013
Researches and publishes reports on various civic design issues.
FOREWORD | SPAGHETTI JUNCTION
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INTRODUCTION 7 PRECEDENTS 11
The Gulch Atlantic Station Bush Central Station Carlyle Master Plan
DESIGN STUDIO The Partnership 21 Design Guidelines 25 Team A 29 Team B 33 Team C 37 Team D 41 REAL WORLD VISIONS 45 TOOLBOX 51 CONCLUSION 53 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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CONTENTS
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Historic maps of East Nashville show the traditional street grids (above left). Conversely, maps of modern Nashville illustrate the interstate system and underutilized land (above right). “Spaghetti Junction” is highlighted and overlaid on Nashville’s Central Business District (CBD). The amount of land occupied by the East Nashville super-interchange is roughly equal to the area of Nashville’s CBD (left).
SPAGHETTI JUNCTION
The D.C. suburbs have the “Mixing Bowl.” In Rochester, N.Y., it is the “Can of Worms.” Drivers in other cities employ similar derisive nicknames: “Orange Crush,” “Hillside Strangler,” and “Malfunction Junction.” These ominous labels evoke the psychological impact caused by a tangled confluence of major highways – interchanges on steroids. These points on the nation’s interstate web feed vehicles into a dizzying filtration system that spins motorists about on a rollercoaster of ramps and through a dicey succession of lane changes, before spitting them out in some new direction. The saving grace for the weak of stomach is the increasing slowness of the bumper-to-bumper traffic that winds through these concrete tilt-a-whirls. When viewed from the air, the super-interchange is often sculptural in form, an artistic interweaving of pavement that belies its negative attributes. Chief among them is that “interchange art” consumes massive amounts of a limited commodity: urban land. Nashville boasts several of these bloated interchanges. None is larger–or more confusing–than the convergence of Ellington Parkway, I-24, Main Street, Spring Street, and Dickerson Pike in East Nashville. “Spaghetti Junction”— actually it’s more like lasagna– devours 95 acres of urban property. Nashville’s entire Central Business District could
fit within the confines of its sweeping ramps. If the area was built out as a medium-density mixed-use neighborhood– as envisioned in The Plan of Nashville (2005)– the site that now drains tax dollars for road maintenance would instead generate huge cash flows. In The Plan’s scenario for this East Nashville site, there would still, of course, be a need for roads, parks, and other public spaces. But approximately 70 acres would remain for private development. The worth of this land is approximately $15 million, based on the current value of adjacent commercial and industrial properties. That figure could rise to $100 million– or more– as the property becomes increasingly valuable to urban developers. Suppose, as The Plan does, that this land were redeveloped as three and four-story buildings mixing substantial amounts of residential with some office and retail uses– a total of around nine million square feet of space. A rough estimate of the aggregate value of construction would be $1.3 billion in today’s figures. Annual tax revenues to Metro on the “Spaghetti” site alone would, at current rates, exceed $20 million when built out. And that figure does not take into consideration the financial benefits of all that development money rippling through the economy, or the sales tax revenue generated by new urban residents spending their dollars in the city. The obese interchange is a field of gold waiting to be mined. David Koellein, from The Plan of Nashville: Avenues to a Great City, Vanderbilt University Press, 2005.
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Perspective view of the East Bank. (Drawing, 2004: ESA, Ken Henley)
CREATING THE VISION
The portion of East Nashville east of 5th Street has experienced tremendous change since the middle of the 20th century. It has undergone large-scale demolition to make way for lowincome and public housing, the interstate system, and a variety of industrial uses. In 1999, a football stadium opened to house the Tennessee Titans, with extensive surface parking lots to accommodate fans. A greenway and pedestrian bridge were subsequently added to the mix. The summer of 2012 saw the most recent additions with the opening of the new Cumberland Park and renovated Nashville Bridge Company Building (NABRICO). While many of these changes were made with great vision and expectation for the area, the surrounding community has experienced less than positive repercussions. The disruption of the historic street grid by the construction of the Interstate system and large public housing developments in the 1960s has led to a community whose built environment is currently fragmented. These problems are not, however, without a solution. The future vision for East Nashville should focus on two key concepts, as presented here by the Nashville Civic Design Center (NCDC) and developed by the joint University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Architecture and Design (UTK CAD) and Vanderbilt University studio: • •
Rethink and repurpose underutilized and inefficient land to provide a more dynamic urban fabric; Mend neighborhood divisions by re-establishing a traditional street grid with intersections.
INTRODUCTION
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The NCDC conducted a study of the East Bank in 2002, and again as part of The Plan of Nashville in 2005. These studies helped formulate a long-term vision for the area. The scope includes the land surrounding the Titans’ Stadium, and the interstate right-of-way at the terminus of Ellington Parkway. Using the two key concepts just mentioned, the idea is to “re-grow” the neighborhood fabric in the remaining industrial sections of the riverbank north of the football stadium. Significant to the plan is the installation of a mixed-use village, including civic spaces and a neighborhood school. The intersection of Ellington Parkway, Spring Street, and Main Street (currently nicknamed “Spaghetti Junction”) is redeveloped by a spatial and traffic-efficient roundabout that accommodates the transportation needs of both local and commuter traffic.
Neighborhood mobility benefits from low-speed, pedestrian and cycle-friendly streets, which connect parks and greenways along the route. By making the riverfront landscape more friendly to people, spaces that once accommodated only industry are now opened to including new hotels and apartment buildings that capitalize on amazing skyline views. A connected street grid with complete-low to mid-speed streets – along with densely-developed city blocks with a consistent street-wall – lends itself to a sense of “place.” A place to visit, socialize, walk, shop, work, live, stay, and grow. “Place” means people, and people (particularly pedestrians) form the basis of urban vitality.
East Bank f igures over time for comparison purposes: Left, 1908: Largely residential with a small band of industry along the riverfront. Note how the street grid, while irregular, is f ine-grained. Center, 2002: The entire neighborhood has been removed and the Interstate acts as a barrier. R ight: In The Plan of Nashville, a network of complete streets replaces the Interstate and its massive rightof-way. Stadium parking lots and riverfront industrial sites are reimagined as a mixed-use neighborhood. (Drawings, 2003: NCDC)
The UTK CAD and Vanderbilt collaborative project narrowed the scope of The Plan of Nashville (2005) to create a specific vision for the “Spaghetti Junction” area, which was articulated as “the district’s dominant problem: the Interstate barrier between East Nashville and the land located to the West.” The students designed around the NCDC’s previously proposed roundabout. Community needs were considered, the project site being an anchor from which additional redevelopment could fan outwards into the surrounding neighborhoods. A real estate market analysis was also part of the project scope, in order to demonstrate feasibility and profitability. The results are encouraging: this project brings some perspective to a 25-year neighborhood plan that may otherwise seem daunting. It is a place to start and an example from which to experiment – the input from young students lends fresh, sustainable ideas. We are not far removed from a time when East Nashville was well-connected among its own distinct neighborhoods, as well as to the river and downtown. The density, cohesiveness, and live-work-play nature of historic East Nashville once comprised and maintained a vibrant, healthy community. The objective here is to help recapture that.
Map showing the proposed changes in The Plan of Nashville. (Drawing, 2005: NCDC)
INTRODUCTION
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Civic space in Atlantic Station, a major redevelopment near downtown Atlanta. Image courtesy of CarterUSA.
IMPORTANCE OF PRECEDENTS
Precedents should play an important role in determining the feasibility and direction of a large-scale redevelopment plan like that of “Spaghetti Junction.” Such a plan requires a vast amount of resources, expertise, and political commitment; precedents, whether successful or not, provide both cautionary advice and inspiration. Projects comparable to the “Spaghetti Junction” proposal include: The Gulch (Nashville, Tenn.), Atlantic Station (Atlanta, Ga.), Bush Central Station (Frederick, Texas), and the Carlyle Plan (Alexandria, Va.). Each of these projects relate to an earlier period of development in North America. Between the mid-nineteenth and the early to mid-twentieth centuries, cities were the site of heavy industry, urban renewal programs, as well as construction of large-scale Interstate and highway infrastructure development. Today cities are being confronted, reassessed, and in many cases, given the 21st century economy, redeveloped.
PRECEDENTS
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THE GULCH Location: Nashville, TN Acreage: 25
The Gulch, a geographically-depressed neighborhood between Downtown and Midtown Nashville, has a distinguished transitoriented history. Its topographical variance from the rest of the city encouraged the placement of rail lines, which experienced a decline in ridership post-1950s. Passenger rail ceased completely in 1979. A number of programs were proposed for the site, but none ever gained ground. Twenty years after the closing of the rail yard lines, newly-formed Nashville Urban Venture LLC, bought 25 acres and planned a new neighborhood. Although a few structures in The Gulch are well over ten stories tall, the original plan – which is much similar than the proposed plans for “Spaghetti Junction” – called for 4-5 story buildings with ground-level transparency to promote pedestrian economic activity and “walkable urbanism.” It also called for a mixed-use neighborhood with 2.75 million square feet of office, residential, and commercial space. Of the 1,800 anticipated dwelling units, 20 percent were reserved for low-to-moderate income housing. The plan embraced The Gulch’s physical separation from the city, projected the ideals of architectural minimalism, and achieved a United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Neighborhood Development (USGBC’s LEEDND) Certification. In 2009, The Gulch became the first U.S. neighborhood to achieve LEED-ND Silver. Photos courtesy of Market Street Enterprises and Smith Gee Studio
PRECEDENTS
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LORING HEIGHTS
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ATLANTIC STATION Location: Atlanta, GA Acreage: 138
Atlantic Station, located on the former site of the Atlantic Steel Mill, is the nation’s largest brownfield remediation project. It was a significant addition to downtown Atlanta, with 138 acres of new retail, residential, commercial, and public space on a site that is adjacent to the I-75 / I-85 freeway junction. Atlantic Station is divided into three areas: The District, The Commons, and The Village. The District is composed of a town center with commercial, retail, and urban-style lofts. The Commons is predominantly high-rise residential; The Village has low-rise housing and an IKEA store. Commercial space was constructed above a continuous parking structure (7,200 spaces), in addition to metered street parking. Architectural styles vary due to the developer’s stipulation that third-party residential development firms contract with different architects and builders. The “FREE RIDE” shuttle directly services the development in its entirety – even across the Interstate – with multiple stops along the route. Atlantic Station also partners with MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) to provide bus service, ensuring transit frequency achieves next-bus arrivals of every ten to 15 minutes.
Photos courtesy of the Atlantic Station blog.
PRECEDENTS
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BUSH CENTRAL STATION Location: Richardson, TX Acreage: 57.11
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Bush Central Station is still in the planning phase (2013). The site is nestled in the southwest quadrant where the Central Expressway (US 75) and George Bush Turnpike intersect, both of which are major transit arteries in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. The plan anticipates the construction of a DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) station, so that Bush Central Station might become a significant transit hub. The master plan depicts a mixed-use community: hotels, condominiums, restaurants, parks, and office space “surrounded by distinct urban neighborhoods that will result in a large-scale, live/work/play environment.” “A uniquely-crafted form-based code transforms the zoning entitlement into a market-driven mechanism that will maximize density and support flexibility of the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) over time.”
Images courtesy of Gateway Planning.
PRECEDENTS
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CARLYLE MASTER PLAN Location: Alexandria, VA Acreage: 80
The Carlyle Master Plan, designed by Cooper, Robertson & Partners, is similar to the proposed “Spaghetti Junction” concept in that both address the re-establishment of the urban fabric adjacent to mass transit. Completed in 1990, the mixeduse development has three main features: • • •
An extension of street and block plans, as well as the buildings’ relationship to the adjacent Old Town Alexandria; A balanced system of streets, open spaces, and active- street fronts, to create sense-of-place, encourage walking; Cars hidden by below-grade parking structures.
The Carlyle neighborhood has 7 million square feet of building area, including hotels, office and retail space, and 1,800 residential units (apartments and condominiums). It maintains the three to five story scale of the nearby Old Town precincts, but allows for greater densities in the commercial areas.
Images courtesy of Cooper, Robertson, & Partners.
PRECEDENTS
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April 2012 Design Review at NCDC: Nashville’s Emerging Eastgate Neighborhood: Re-establishing Urban Fabric.
DESIGN STUDIO SPRING 2012 UTK CAD + VU PARTNERSHIP
The Nashville Civic Design Center partners with the University of Tennessee-Knoxville’s College of Architecture and Design, through which NCDC urban designers and UTK CAD architecture students evaluate potential “real-world” projects for Nashville throughout the academic year. As part of this tandem collaboration, NCDC and UTK CAD analyzed the development potential within East Nashville’s “Spaghetti Junction” in the Spring of 2012. Representative projects from this design studio are included here. This studio was unique in that UTK CAD students paired with graduate students from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management in Real Estate Development. The Vanderbilt MBA student teams assisted with land-value assessments, market analyses, land-stakeholder development, and economic analysis as a project pro forma; outlined anticipated project absorption; and evaluated financing capacity and project constraints. They also considered strategies for public-private partnership that might facilitate viable economies under the current market conditions. Students prepared for the design challenge with field trips to Nashville, research, and reporting exercises. To enhance discussion of the urban form and reciprocity characteristics of great city blocks and streets, UTK CAD students analyzed exceptional precedents, including Le Corbusier’s Immueble Villas in Paris and Unter der Linden in Berlin.
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 21
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NASHVILLE’S EAST BANK GATEWAY DISTRICT: RE-ESTABLISHING URBAN FABRIC
This Urban Design / Graduate Diploma Project Studio sought to re-establish the urban fabric in the emerging “gateway” neighborhood of East Nashville. The studio explored the question of what constitutes urban design and development: innovation, excellence, and best practices in the constituent elements of urban fabric: the urban block and its spatial corollary, the urban street. The site studied is equivalent to a 16-block area, flanked by the elevated I-24 to the west (the boundary between downtown and East Nashville), the CSX depressed railroad tracks next to Ellington Parkway to the north, the historic Edgefield neighborhood to the east, and MDHA managed/owned housing to the south. It is bisected by two major east-west streets, Main Street and Woodland Street, that link Downtown to East Nashville. Main Street is anticipated as a future bus rapid transit route between East Nashville’s Five Points and West Nashville’s Hill Center at White Bridge Road. One full block is currently occupied by an ambitious mixed-use condominium development (Fifth and Main). Most of the acreage is consumed today by cloverleaf interchanges that tie Ellington Parkway to I-24, as well as provide access to Downtown and East Nashville.
The site slopes downward toward the north raising the potential for an “Atlantic Station” type of parking, where a multi-block base of garages are constructed, and which buildings and street infrastructure are plugged from above. The Plan of Nashville advocates rationalizing inner-loop, interstate highway interchanges, stating: “A right-angle interface between the highways and the public streets is pedestrian and bicycle friendly– because right angles slow traffic down– and provides opportunities for bus stops, dedicated transit lanes, and multimodal transportation hubs. Reclaimed land– hundreds of acres– is returned to the downtown and neighborhood fabric, and to Metro tax rolls.” Much of the site studied by UTK CAD is a quadrant of the notorious “Spaghetti Junction.” The studio assumes removal of onsite cloverleaf ramps, to be replaced by rationalized on/off interchanges, parallel and perpendicular to the interstate innerloop and the city’s street-grid. The current interstate highway land devoted to the cloverleafs, while maintained by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, is actually owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville-Davidson County– hence providing the city with a substantial incentive to convert this highly-developable land into a more substantial generator for property/sales tax revenue.
Thomas K. Davis, FAIA Associate Professor, University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 23
Drawing of 16 new urban blocks.
DESIGN GUIDELINES
A master plan (at left) for the new neighborhood shows the basic layout of streets and blocks, with solid/void relationships that generically serve as a departure-point for design transformation. Existing buildings within the established urban context are designated for redevelopment and are thus subject to acquisition and demolition. New block-level programs remain to be imagined, as do precise streetscape specifications. It is assumed that development of this 16-block neighborhood would happen incrementally over time, as with The Gulch, with market circumstances subject to dynamic, unforeseeable change. For this study, it is assumed that each team of students will analyze their proposals as if the block was to become the next site for neighborhood redevelopment. This allows the studio to assume the potential site and program priorities will follow Fifth & Main block programming, with all the necessary infrastructure improvements. All infrastructure costs (other than parking) are assumed to come from federal, state, and local government sponsors, as part of interstate maintenance/ improvement and economic development programs.
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 25
Existing conditions (above). Master plan of proposed development (right).
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 27
e Axon
An urban plaza at the perspective Fifth + Main Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stop. Clockwise from top left: Lewis Agnew and Andrew Teeling (Hotel, Housing, and Off ice Space), Tyrone Bunyon (Urban Hotel and Residences), John Halford (NHK North American Headquarters), and Robert Huber (UBS Bank/Data Center).
TEAM A University of Tennessee Tyron Bunyon: Urban Hotel and Residences John Halford: NHK North American Headquarters Robert Huber: UBS Bank/Data Center
Tyrone Bunyon: This project proposes an urban-scale
“vestibule” in and out of downtown, with hotel, housing and on-grade commercial spaces. Considerable attention was paid to the plaza’s landscape development. It also incorporates canopied platforms for the BRT stop.
John Halford: The assigned block size is ideal for a
corporate-office building. Adding to its appeal for a corporation was the high visibility provided by its immediate proximity to the Interstate. In addition, it affords excellent skyline views. The project designer’s interest in Japanese culture led to the hypothetical assumption for a North American headquarters for the NHK, a global company that produces and distributes digital and video media of musical performances. The NHK building is tallest on Main Street, and terraces down to Woodland Avenue – part of a three-block formation along the flank of the Interstate – with two other terracing blocks. A thin wall within the NHK block (at six stories) provides executive offices with downtown views, and also supplies a media-wall toward the direction of the Interstate. It also acoustically screens the eastern roof terraces from Interstate noise pollution, so that they might supply both public access, as well as functional
Vanderbilt University Lewis Agnew Andrew Teeling
outdoor performance space. The block has below-grade parking, and its high-wall “armature” is equipped with a helipad, solar panels, and satellite dish.
Robert Huber: In 2012, the Union Bank of Switzerland
(UBS) revealed it was relocating (on a potential interim basis) to an office park adjacent to Nashville International Airport. This suggested potential for imagining a bank relocation to a high-visibility site adjacent to the Interstate, in the emerging Eastgate neighborhood. This terraced building, standing high on Main Street, steps down toward the north. It boasts a strong, tall edge at Main Street, with meeting and conference spaces in its deeper portions. The terraces’ dissolving edges also hold individual offices, with open-plan floor space behind. Core circulation runs the building’s length, with a grand staircase acting as a social space at all levels to promote employee social interaction. The grand stair landings “pierce” the wall-mass facing downtown. These envelope “punches” signal key meeting and conference hall spaces within the block. Below-grade parking is accommodated.
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 29
Clockwise from top left: Mixed Use Plaza at 5th and Main BRT stpo (top two images); UBS Bank Building; and Main Street view of Downtown Nashville’s skyline.
Vanderbilt University: The Vanderbilt team proposed
an “urban foyer” at a proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stop at 5th and Main streets. The site would essentially act as a threshold between Downtown (to the west of Interstate 24), and East Nashville to the Interstate’s east. Lined with commercial space on grade-level, and hotels, housing, and office space on upper levels, the prospective plaza covers below-grade parking in order to take advantage of the site’s down-slope contours. The team felt that ground-level commercial space would better stimulate pedestrian/economic activity.
UBS Bank Building (top) and NHK Building.
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 31
Axonometric
Axonometric
Bird’s eye view of Team B’s buildings. Counterclockwise from top left: Kathryn Thompson (An Urban Hotel); Greg Morrison (Library, Art Gallery, and Housing); Laura Boring & Bryan Loughridge (Off ice Building, Housing, and Culinary Institute); and Kate Armstrong (Urban Market with Housing).
TEAM B University of Tennessee Kate Armstrong: Urban Market with Housing Greg Morrison: Library, Art Gallery, and Housing Kathryn Thompson: An Urban Hotel
Kate Armstrong: This block is developed as an urban
grocery store with a sky-lit market hall, located on level two of the structure, with two levels of parking below. Second-level grocery is already a functional premise among Harris Teeter grocery stores in the Nashville area. It assumes the provision of special escalators that can accommodate grocery carts. Sidewalks around the block are lined with specialty food and wine-related shops, as well as the grocery lobby. Atop the market hall is a green-roof courtyard, wrapped by three storys of singleloaded housing.
Greg Morrison: Proposed is a housing block with cultural amenities, all sharing a raised community garden, with a parking structure beneath. To the north edge of the site is a double-loaded slab, with housing above and commercial on grade. Townhouses line the south edge .
On the west and east ends of the block- facing each other across a garden with pergolas- are an art gallery and a public library. Both of these buildings consist of identical envelopes which– while modernist in their spatial sensibilities – are embedded
Vanderbilt University: Speculative Office Building, Housing and Culinary Institute Laura Boring Bryan Loughridge
with a classic spatial layering, Palladian A-B-A-B-A. This type of layering is reminiscent of the Villa Garche in Paris, a modernist icon by Le Corbusier. While structures are identical in their dimension and alignment with the garden, the art gallery is conceived as a prism of glass block to maximize natural light for gallery displays, while the library is a stone building with minimal windows to protect and maximize stacks of books. These two building concepts thereby stand as reciprocal opposites of one another.
Kathryn Thompson: This block houses an urban hotel
with a high-entry face to the south and a massing that terraces down to Woodland Ave. Lining the sidewalks are retail and restaurant space, as is often found in American hotels. Massing is organized around two atriums: one that is six stories, and another smaller, three story one. Rooftop terraces with downtown skyline views accessible to all hotel guests. The rooftop also features a bar inside a pergola frame structure that extends upward from below. Finally, there are two levels of below-grade parking.
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 33
Street Views Street Views
Perspective view of streetscape at urban market block topped by housing.
Vanderbilt University. This project is located on a large
site across from the Fifth and Main mixed-use building. A corporate office building fronts Fifth Avenue at the west side. A culinary institute with a restaurant is located on the first two levels along Main Street and is topped with housing. Parking is at grade in the block’s center, within a podium-forming structure that serves as the institute’s biergarten. Housing lines the south edge, and overall block massing incorporates a church and parish house (existing).
Perspective streetscape at row housing (above); perspective streetscape at urban hotel block (below).
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 35
Team C’s designs. Clockwise from top left: Jason Pimsler (An Urban Hotel) and James Wines (Cineplex, Housing, and Commercial Space)- side by side, Michael Drzewiecki, Jorge Noriega, and Robert Perry (Grocery and Housing), view of Castor’s courtyard, and Jeff Castor (Housing and Off ice Space.) Axonometric View
Perspective View of Courtyard
TEAM C University of Tennessee Jeff Castor: Housing & Office Space Jason Pimsler: An Urban Hotel Jim Wines: Cineplex, Housing & Commercial Space
Jeff Castor: This multi-building ensemble is organized by
pedestrian-oriented, limited vehicular-access streets, sometimes referred to as “woonerfs” (Dutch terminology). A terraced residential building looks north to Ellington Parkway’s green zone. Two matching office buildings flank the axial extension of the city grid. One of the office buildings houses an earlylearning center at penthouse level; the other office building’s penthouse offers a wellness center. Housing is located to the site’s east, with corporate offices lining Fifth Avenue on the western side, with a new roundabout resolving the terminus of Ellington Parkway. A continuous, multi-block parking deck below all buildings raises the site so that it acts as a platform well above the parkway. Jason Pimsler: A large urban hotel fills out this block, with two courtyards adjacent to double-loaded hotel rooms along its hallways. To the south side is a glass-covered galleria. Retail and restaurant space is situated at grade-level relative to the hotel’s activated sidewalks. As the existing site falls away, two levels
Vanderbilt University: An Urban Market with Housing Michael Drzewiecki Jorge Noriega Robert Perry
of continuous, multi-block parking comprise a platform. This block formation defines one-fourth of the new roundabout at the terminus of Ellington Parkway. James Wines: On the north side of this block is a glass-covered galleria, where block form defines one-fourth of the new roundabout at the terminus of Ellington Parkway. The block itself has commercial space, a series of seven small movie theaters, and a culinary institute at its bottom two floors. Above this are four levels of housing organized around a rooftop terrace. A continuous, multi-block parking platform raises the ground-plane from its existing topographic sag.
Vanderbilt University. This Vanderbilt-led team proposes
a Trader Joe’s grocery with two stories on Main Street, wrapping a courtyard, with four levels of housing just above the grocery. At the north side of the block, four-story townhouses line the street. Parking below the housing and grocery capitalizes on the site’s one-story fall off from south to north.
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 37
Left Page: Streetscape of twin mixed-use off ice buildings (left); roundabout with galleria, street, and mixed-use building (above right); and the urban hotel block (below right). R ight Page: Streetscape in pedestrianized grouping (above left); streetscape at row housing (right); and the galleria as viewed from roundabout, between a mixed-use building and an urban hotel (below left).
Courtyard Rendering
View of Courtyard
Ryman Street Rendering
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 39 View of Ryman Street
AXONOMETRIC 1” = 40’
Birds eye view of Team D’s designs. Clockwise from top left: A llyssa Nealon (Housing with Commercial Space); Tyler Loveday (An Urban Hotel); Daniel Berger (An Urban Housing Block); and A lexander Hardy, Doug Midkiff, and Joseph Mims (Speculative Off ice Building).
TEAM D University of Tennessee Daniel Berger: An Urban Housing Block Tyler Loveday: An Urban Hotel Allyssa Nealon: Housing with Commercial Space
Daniel Berger: Two interlocking ‘L-shaped’ buildings
define this urban housing block with community spaces found in the lower legs of each ‘L.’ The ground level contains lobbies and light commercial space. The building is articulated as a structural frame with floor-to-ceiling glass infill. Top floors have duplex penthouse apartments. Below grade is a multi-block, two-story, continuous parking deck that raises the ground plane from its existing topographical sag.
Tyler Loveday: This block is developed as a double
courtyard hotel. One courtyard is an enclosed winter garden, while another is exterior for the traditional middle Tennessee growing season. Courtyards are found on the hotel’s second level, spatially overlapping in sections with the double-height central lobby. A banquet hall and large meeting room straddle the block’s central zone between the two courtyards. Sidewalks are lined with retail and restaurant space- customary in classic American hotels. A rooftop bar looks toward the downtown skyline, well above the Interstate highway.
Vanderbilt University: A Speculative Office Building Alexander Hardy Doug Midkiff Joseph Mims
Allyssa Nealon: A six-story, linear building with housing
faces a garden terrace at the site’s north edge. Attached to the linear housing wall are five-story “mini-towers” with two units per floor. A community garden plot is situated above the twostory, multi-block, continuous parking platform.
Vanderbilt University. This Vanderbilt team proposes a
lengthy, speculative office building that parallels the Interstate. Highway proximity renders this a high-visibility site; along with its downtown views, this could be a highly-desirable location for a corporate headquarters. A series of atriums programmed as enclosed winter gardens mitigates Interstate noise pollution. The ground floor contains a lobby, with an exterior forecourt on axis with a rehabilitated neighborhood street-grid, as well as employee dining and meeting spaces.
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 41
Left Page, Clockwise from top left: Speculative off ice building with “winter gardens� facing a downtown view; streetscape of housing block with retail on grade (both above + below); and interior courtyard view of housing block. R ight Page: Streetscape of the urban housing block.
URBAN DESIGN STUDIO 43
Cumberland Park Images of Cumberland Park courtesy of Gary Layda, Metro Nashville
REAL WORLD VISIONS
Since The Plan of Nashville was published and associated student projects commenced, a few ideas have already turned into reality for the community of East Nashville. The vision as presented in the Introduction here will materialize over time through the phased, piece-by-piece completion of individual projects. Cumberland Park, Fifth & Main, and the Nashville Bridge Company Building (NABRICO) are three recent developments on the east bank that serve as anchors from which other projects might spring-board. Cumberland Park and NABRICO are part of a larger riverfront revitalization plan. The Riverfront Redevelopment Plan (nashvilleriverfront.org) incorporates both sides of the river, from Interstate 24 on the north-end to Shelby Park at the south. At this publication’s printing, Fifth & Main stands in a relatively isolated zone, and only the first phase of the Riverfront Development Plan has been realized. However, in August of 2013, the Mayor released the updated plans for the next phase of both east and west banks of The Riverfront Park. East Nashville is poised for resurgence; these three developments and the potential for fixed-guideway rapid transit service on Main Street might be the seeds from which continued revitalization will sprout.
REAL WORLD VISIONS
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Cumberland Park, a 6.5 acre, $9.5 million project
adjacent to LP Field, opened in April of 2012. The park serves as “an innovative new play-space for children and families, incorporating nature-inspired structures and water features.” Designed by Hargreaves Associates, Cumberland Park’s numerous features include an explorer trail, canopy and lawn, esplanade, and a refurbished historic building. The riverbank is accessible through the Esplanade, a walkway, and gantry catwalk over the river. The restored Bridge Building is utilized for public restrooms, a Parks and Recreation office, food concessions, event space, and office space for the Southern Environmental Law Center and Cumberland River Compact (Cumberland River Center).
Part of the park’s design focuses on environmentally-friendly features, including: geothermal energy, energy-efficient lighting, brownfield remediation, floodplain preservation, restoration of 1.6 acres of meadow and riparian grasses, water reuse for irrigation, interpretative signage, and improved opportunity for biodiversity to survive.
Fifth and Main, a six-story, mixed-use development at the
Source: Nashville Parks and Recreation Department
REAL WORLD VISIONS
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intersection of Fifth and Main Streets, was designed by EOA Architects and completed in 2008. It offers varied residential spaces – lofts, flats, and townhomes – as well as commercial, retail, and office space. While the development initially had a poor market response due to its ill-timed completion that coincided with the national economic downturn, the concept and design are nonetheless still a model for future development. At a prime location, Fifth and Main offers prominent street access and beautiful views of Downtown Nashville. The green, LEED-certified design features open floor plans and large windows for natural lighting. Nearly two dozen residential units are designated for lower-income buyers. The parking deck is hidden below grade, allowing the site to offer access to green spaces (including outdoor picnic areas) to encourage a sense of community among residents. Fifth and Main has 20,000 sq. ft. ground floor retail and 10,000 sq. ft. office space on the second and third floors. EOA Architects moved its offices to the building in summer 2013.
Images courtesy of Fifth and Main.
The Nashville Bridge Company Building (NABRICO),
located immediately adjacent to the new play park, was completely renovated and adaptively reused in a manner that complements and contributes to revitalization of the overall downtown riverfront. Key elements of the building renovation program included structural reinforcement and restoration of the historic building; modernization of the building systems to LEED Platinum standards – only three other buildings in the world have posted a higher score; provision of public restrooms; a Metro Parks staff office and concession facilities to serve the east riverbank area; and the introduction of stairway and elevator towers to connect the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge deck directly with the riverbank below. The project was designed by Hastings Architecture Associates and opened in 2012. Images courtesy of Sitephocus.
REAL WORLD VISIONS
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MIXED-USE & HIGH DENSITY Include retail, dining, nightlife, and live/work spaces to create a dense, urban environment.
BELOW-GRADE PARKING Provide ample, out-of-sight parking access.
SUSTAINABILITY Incorporate pedestrian and bike paths; build in close proximity to transit routes with rigorous, exemplary environmental practices.
CIVIC SPACE Utilize public plazas, parks, and outdoor space to engage the public at various times-of-day, accomodate civic functions.
COMPLETE STREETS Enable eff icient and safe access for all potential users of a roadway and reconnect neighborhoods using traditional streetgrid networks.
GROUND LEVEL RETAIL Add to the vibrancy and prof itability of a neighborhood by programming spaces for the pedestrians eye.
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If done properly, new developments have the opportunity to heal and reinvigorate neighborhoods. Redeveloping the East Bank Gateway District would reconnect a community fragmented by the Interstates. New housing and commercial development would lead to a more dynamic urban space. Healthy living would be encouraged by new streets designed to be safe and comfortable for pedestrians and cyclists, as well as motorists. Success depends heavily on community input, careful planning, private support, and public-sector investment. With this commitment, new development in East Nashville could ultimately help fuel the vision for a healthier Nashville. In The Plan of Nashville, the NCDC identified “Ten Principles� to guide public policy, development practice, urban planning, and design. These principles create an optimal framework for growth to ensure Nashville will be an enjoyable, successful and sustainable city. Night view of downtown Nashville Image courtesy of Fifth and Main
CONCLUSION
The following growth principles can easily be translated into guidelines for new East Nashville development.
6. Develop an economically viable downtown district as the heart of the region.
1. Respect Nashville’s natural and built environment.
7. Raise the quality of the public realm with civic structures and spaces.
2. Treat the Cumberland River as central to Nashville’s identity – an asset to be treasured and enjoyed. 3. Re-establish the streets as the principal public space of community and connectivity. 4. Develop a convenient and efficient transportation infrastructure. 5. Provide for a comprehensive, interconnected greenway and park system.
8. Integrate public art into the design of the city, its buildings, public works, and parks. 9. Strengthen the unique identity of neighborhoods. 10. Infuse visual order into the city by strengthening sightlines to and from civic landmarks and natural features.
CONCLUSION
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ACK NOWLEDGEMENTS Re-establishing Urban Fabric: Nashville’s Emerging Eastgate Neighborhood is a project of the Nashville Civic Design Center, in partnership with the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and the University of Tennessee’s College of Architecture and Design.
Nashville Civic Design Center The mission of the Nashville Civic Design Center is to elevate the quality of Nashville’s built environment and to promote public participation in the creation of a more beautiful and functional city for all. Nashville Civic Design Center Staff: Julia Fry Landstreet, Executive Director Gary Gaston, Design Director Stephanie McCullough, Communications + Community Outreach Ron Yearwood, Urban Designer www.CivicDesignCenter.org The Univer si t y of Tennessee, Knox ville, College of Archi tecture and Design For nearly twenty years, the College of Architecture and Design has been helping to envision the future of Nashville. Architecture students annually participate in pertinent real-world concerns through an academic rigor that results in visionary design solutions for Nashville’s neighborhoods. Some of the student’s most recent works include a boat house along the Cumberland River and micro-apartment housing for Downtown. Thomas K. Davis, Associate Professor archdesign.utk.edu
Nashville Area Metropoli t an Planning Organization The Nashville Area MPO is the policy, planning, and programming authority for all surface transportation projects in Davidson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, Wilson, and parts of Maury and Robertson counties. The MPO is committed to providing leadership in the planning, funding, and development of a regional multi-modal transportation system. Nashville Area MPO Staff: Michael Skipper, AICP, Executive Director Lou Edwards, Administrative Assistant Jeffrey Leach, Finance Officer Mary Beth Ikard, APR, Communications Director Félix G. Castrodad, Principal Transportation Planner Leslie A. Meehan, AICP, Director of Healthy Communities Max Baker, Senior Planner Chin-Cheng Chen, Engineering Associate Nicholas Lindeman, Economic & Systems Data Analyst NashvilleMPO.org
LIVABILITY • PROSPERITY • SUSTAINABILITY • DIVERSITY