Project Details
selected projects only
2008
Downey, California
The old NASA site in Downey is now a working contract studio that was slated for redevelopment essentially as a regional mall. Moule and Polyzoides were asked to conduct a charrette to reconstruct the site into a town center. We were responsible for the traffic and parking analysis. A pallette of streets was developed along with an ananlysis of parking scenario's taking into account shared and park once models.
Silvertip, Canmore, Alberta, Canada
Contracted by Stone Creek Properties, this medieval design by Jaydean Boldt presents several challanges with respect to fire access, unconventional street geometrics and steep terrain. We are working on the Traffic Impact Analysis, Parking study, fire access plan and civil engineering issues.
Sachse, Texas
The charrette run by Gateway Planning Group was tasked to run a public charrette for a site in Sachse, Texas. Swift and Associates was responsible for the transportation element and did urban design for a church owned propery adjacent to the project. We were able to identify some possible regional solutions, modifications to local major arterial streets, propose cross sections for project streets and submit an urban plan for the church site.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
We have been retained to work on the transportation elements for this project designed by Duany Platter Zyberk Architects, Miami, Florida. There are a number of issues related to traffic including trip generation and street design that are in the process of being worked on.
Home Town, North Richland Hills, Texas
A revision to the plan by DPZ Architects raised some questions about the traffic volumes and street configurations. We were contracted to work with the developer's consultant to introduce data and a narrative describing the advantages of walkable communities.
2005 — 2007
Abu Dhabi
In a weeklong charrette with Nelson Nygaard, we did the urban design for 2 kilometers of Al Salaam Street showing the potential for infill with neighborhood structure, public space and embracing the new boulevard. The recommendations of the charrete were to abandon all the in progress plans for several highways in Abu Dhabi and, instead, having a network of grand avenues and boulevards. The Crown Prince accepted these recommendations. The results should help with establishing Abu Dhabi as an iconic Arab city in the Middle East.
Dubai, Palm Jebel Ali
Crown Prince Sheik Mohammed wanted sustainable development for the Palm rather then encourage another recreation oriented development. The charrette team under Robertsday (Australia) redesigned the Palm into three town centers and several neighborhoods. We organized the transportation elements, established a street hierarchy, proposed transit design and did the design detailing for one of the plaza/square town centers in AutoCAD.
Dubai, Waterfront — Phase III
As a continuation of the vision established by the Crown Prince, and again with Robertsday, we worked on the Waterfront project that established two urban villages in a walkable, mixed use fashion. We were responsible for reviewing and revising the local street standards and applying it in a hierarchal fashion to the project design. We did the design detailing for the entire project in AutoCAD along with design revision to one of the village plaza's. Transit schemes were proposed and recommendations for area-wide master transportation planning were proposed.
University of Salahadin, Erbil, Iraq
Design was completed for Salahadin University housing in a mixed use, walkable form with a village center and civic buildings. The University is trying to obtain financing and develop a mortgage program. Under Islamic Law, the structuring of mortgages becomes somewhat complex. The project included preliminary architecture as mentioned below.
Architectural design prototypes, North Iraq
The vernacular architecture of North Iraq was studied and incorporated into plans for 13 detached residential units. This was done with the expert help of Douglas Duany. The designs were broken down into three types and several floor plates. These building can be used for most public and private projects and are sensitive to urban context within their Transect Zones. We also developed a full matrix of building types with assignment to Transect Zones. A history of residential type was documented and laid out a clear pattern of the evolution of private residential space in the region.
An Urban typological study, North Iraq
An analysis was done on several urban centers north of Erbil so that we could get an understanding of the amount of agricultural land needed to sustain hamlets, villages and town centers. We also constructed a map establishing existing neighborhood structure for the purpose of identifying urbanized areas that would be ready for expansion. A program for introducing new agriculturally oriented jobs was developed.
Analysis and development of a regional medieval urban typology, North Iraq
The Council of Ministries, government staff and local people seemed interested in the reintroduction of historical urban patterns. We developed this prototype as an example of what could be achieved with respect to the automobile, modern construction materials and infrastructure needs. It was well received and will be used in private development as funding becomes available.
Presentations to the Council of Ministries and Prime Minister's advisors, North Iraq
- Three presentations were made to the Council of Ministries and Prime Minister's advisors. Each presentation was approximately three hours and covered a broad range of subjects including the following:
- The urban to rural transect and its calibration to North Iraq
- Reintroduction of the regional vernacular architecture and its techniques
- Economic development opportunities and recommendations for shifting budget monies to more productive efforts
- Traditional urban form and sustainable patterns of development
- Prototypical urban patterns based on Islamic Law, ancient codes and local context
- Suggestions for revisions to banking practice
- Building scale solutions with respect to Sharia Law
- Investigations into the use of alternative sources of energy
- Introduction of a more affective transit system
- Regional planning techniques and identification of important issues to address prior to starting a Master Plan
- Sustainable transportation techniques
- Suggestions for political processes that advance long term planning goals
These ideas were warmly welcomed and some of them were implemented immediately.
Pre-2005
Selby Property, Buena Vista, Colorado
Swift and Associates attended a charrette held in November, 2003, run by Dover-Kohl. Currently we are developing the engineering documents for submittal to the Town. The clients wanted a green project and have included site and building criteria that are state-of-the-art for environmental protection and mitigation. We are designing a Woonerf (pron. voh-nerf) which is a pedestrian dominant narrow street for part of the project. In addition, site drainage will include an infiltration trench for cleansing the storm water runoff before entering the Arkansas River. A roundabout at the north end of the project will act as visual terminus for Main Street and act as an entry to the site. We hope to have the project under construction this year.
EDO, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Redesign of Broadway and Central corridors is led by Moule and Polyzoides Architects and Urbanists. We attended the charrette and proposed several design elements including two roundabouts to reduce required number of traffic lanes. This will provide space for possible future fixed rail transit. The confined street width still allows for plenty of space for wide sidewalks and pedestrian amenities.
Potters House, Dallas, Texas
A New Urbanist community developed by Arcadia Realty (Bill Gietema), Potters house fronts on a State thoroughfare slated to be a four lane higher speed conveyance. We introduced a Road Diet by reducing it to two lanes and four roundabouts. Additionally, extensive modeling was done to make sure that the fire departments ladder trucks could access the narrow street system within the project.
Walla Walla Downtown Master Plan, Washington State
This project run by Winter and Company, Boulder, CO, is a Master Plan for redevelopment of Walla Walla's downtown. This interesting project in one of the best preserved traditional towns in the northwest includes parking assessment, thoroughfare redesign into boulevards, lane reductions, pedestrian access design and transit enhancements.
Brookhaven, New York — Design Guidelines
Design Guidelines were written for three proposed town centers on Montauk Highway. The guidelines include architectural typology, land use based on the Transect, street types, building placement and a review process for staff. The Montauk Highway exists in a conventional sprawl pattern with strip commercial as a predominant artifact. The new guidelines will require that as vacant property develops, or existing buildings redevelop, they conform to the master plan for the evolving village centers.