CONTENTS

BEACON HILL, KANSAS CITY, MO

Kansas City trajectory growth makes it the poster child for the “Suburban Experiment.”

The Rapid growth of KC started in the late 19th and early 20th century, which was made possible through the fusion of centuries-old European architectural place making traditions. With this, the rectilinear street grid became a unique American invention. The neighborhood of Beacon Hill is a development of Mid-Century Modern homes and town homes. In the early 2000’s the northwest corridor of Beacon Hill underwent a transformation with new renovated homes along Tracy and Forest Avenues and West Paseo Boulevard. Today, Beacon Hill has a renaissance; since 2011 more than 50 new homes have been built on once empty neighborhood ground.

URBAN PATTERNING | KANSAS CITY, MO | SAVANNAH KRUSE

Beacon Hill Proposed

Legend

= Commons Plans

= 2459 Case Study House

STREET SCAPE & SETBACKS BEACON HILL REGULATIONS

The development of Beacon Hill, both in home development and street scape has unique neighborhood standards. Since 2011, more than 50 new homes have been built on a once empty neighborhood grounds. The construction of UMKC student housing at 25th and Troost, adjacent to Hospital Hill, added 126 graduate and medical student apartments to the area. This started the trajectory growth of dozens of multi occupational units throughout Beacon Hill. Revitalizing Beacon Hill revolved around private and public ownership, where it has been stated that “what’s happening at Beacon Hill is truly an example of a public-private partnership working seamlessly to transform and revitalize a neighborhood” (beaconhillkansascity. com). The residential homes follow similar street facade and landscape. The development of mid century modern homes in Kansas City with Donald Holland Drummond (a Kansas City based architect/engineer) is projected onto the new development of Mid-Century Modern homes in Beacon Hill.

TOWNHOUSE SETBACKS

LATERAL TOWNHOUSE SETBACKS

Legend

= Proposed Streets

= Proposed Lanes

= Vacated ROW

= Existing ROW

= Existing Street

= Private Street

= Storm Water Detention

STREET SCAPE & SETBACKS BEACON HILL REGULATIONS

Within the parameters of Beacon Hill, in order to keep within the proposal of renovating the neighborhood, strict building codes are enforced in order to keep the neighborhood “feel” complimentary throughout. Beacon Hill offers over 300 new building sites for single-family houses, detached and duplex houses in addition to 100 completely renovated historic and traditional Kansas City residential homes. Lots are available for $37,500 and up, and town homes begin at $195,000. The entire neighborhood covers almost 90 acres with a panoramic view of downtown. Beacon Hill is a mixed-use, new-urbanist neighborhood within walking distance to most major monuments in Kansas City. It’s important to note the vicinity of Beacon Hill to urban downtown; a less than 5 minute drive to central downtown, the closeness to downtown brings back a dense urban patterning to the neighborhood. Overall, Beacon Hill is designed as a traditional Kansas City neighborhood with pedestrian orientation, rear lanes for garage access, open space, green spaces, and neighborhood amenities that include commercial lofts, retail spaces and community centers. Additionally, Robinson Hospital has been redeveloped for the aging population, having 45 elderly residents. Many award winning architecture firms are hired by potential clients to purchase a lot, design their Mid-Century Modern home, and keep with the progressiveness of Beacon Hill.

Proposed Zoning

Development Plan

Existing Zoning: URD

Proposed Zoning: URD

Total Land Area: 94 Acres

Existing Street Right of Way: 29.11 acre

27th Street Dedication: TBD

Proposed Street Right of Way: 11.16 acres

Net Land Area: 50.97 Acres

Proposed Uses: Residential, Senior Housing, Mixed Use

Building Height: Residential up to 45 feet

GFA Per Floor: Residential 625-4600 Per Floor

Required Parking: 1 Per Residential Unit

Phasing Plan

Phase 1A: Infill development

Phase 2B: Demo/rehab of homes

Phase 2B: Demo of single family

Phase 3: Construction of new town homes

Phase 4: Construction of single family

Phase 5: Construction of commercial

Phase 6: Third party construction

PHASE 5

PHASE 4

PHASE 3

PHASE 1A

PHASE 1B

PHASE 6

PHASE 2A

PHASE 2B

Kansas City Donald Drummond

KC Suburbs are a significant portion of KC growing, where it shares a higher share of suburban population and employment than the 50 largest metros, in general, and the region, in particular. The ability to buy large single-family homes, enjoy convenient highway access, and to get access to better schools are among the reasons that people move to the suburbs. KC however, seems to be missing the “middle housing” development, which provides the diversity of homes for all ages, prices, culture and lifestyle. Building a suburb in Kansas City revolves around finding an urban area. To overview Beacon Hill, it has been focused to be a new neighborhood in the urban culture of Kansas City. 300 lots were sold to the neighborhood for residential use in the beginning stages of the redevelopment of Beacon Hill. Beacon Hill fits the definition of a suburb “ which is a mixed-use or residential area, existing either as part of a city or urban area as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city.”

MID-CENTURY

Donald Holland Drummond was an architect based in KC, Missouri, where he pioneered modern residential architecture in KC. He built as many as 1,100 homes in the conservative KC market. Drummond’s first self-designed homes were not overly contemporary, rather they were just boxes that held logic and not beauty. The adjacency of spaces, clean design and development of logic in programming became the basis of Drummond homes. With this, the development of Mid-Century Modern aesthetic began with the idea of simplicity. I believe this is the true definition of architecture. Architecture is problem solving, and with Mid-Century Modern design revolving around logic, it seems to be a very successful design. Drummond coined the term “flatties” which describes flat roofs, and is a great illustration of how Mid-Century Modern homes are designed. Eichler Homes are much popular Mid-Century Modern homes, where Drummond homes don’t hold as high of status, but the Eichler homes are the epitome of mid century modern homes.

MODERN HOMES TRANSITIONAL LIVING; BRINGING THE OUTDOORS IN

The Mid-Century Modern movement was popular from 1945-1969. Overall, mid century modern homes are characterized by clean, simple lines and an honest use of materials. The greatest emphasis on mid century modern homes is their lack of decorative embellishments. This was revolutionary in architecture. Through history, the progression of residential design has been seen as displaying wealth through elaborate architecture. However, Mid-Century Modern design focuses on logic and space planning - where, for residential architecture, it makes the most sense to create the most functioning home for a family without “fluff.” The Mid-Century Modern movement in the United States was an American reflection of the International and Bauhaus movements. This includes architects like Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe, Walter Gropius, and Le Corbusier. These architects were pioneers in popularizing Mid-Century Modern design and moving the focus of residential architecture to function over form. .

12