The visits to Northport and Mt. Laurel were influential in my design. The town of Northport was beneficial in designing the mixed use area. Northport was affective in having buildings joined together and still decorated in a way that made them look like separate businesses or buildings. This method was incorporated into the mixed use area of the infill development. In addition, the awnings that were used throughout the downtown of Northport persuaded the idea of having many awnings on the mixed use building.
The style of housing used in the design was much like the housing type of the Mt. Laurel homes. The houses used in the enclosed courtyard area of the design were modeled after the townhomes visited at Mt. laurel with the large two story porches on the front. The detached townhomes from Mt. Laurel were used as a guide for the single family houses in the design. The 8’ spacing between homes at Mt. Laurel seemed to be a good distance to put raised cisterns between the houses in the infill development design.
The alleyways behind the houses in Mt. Laurel were also beneficial to the infill design. In fact, the garages faced the back of the houses instead of the front, which disrupts the architectural integrity of the home. The design does a good job at placing the homes with a garage in a location that does not disrupt the view of a home in back.
Once the design was finished, the supporting graphics and model building helped me to realize some of the things that were done really well and other things that could have been done differently. One of the great things in the design was the formal entry at the corner and how it represented the built environment, as you walked farther into the community the walkway begins to come unwoven into the natural environment. This was a large part of my concept statement. I also liked the density used in the design. I felt that the density of the units were more dense than the surrounding community but was still not so dense that it felt too urban for the space.
Some other aspects of the design that was done well were the use of spaces or rooms within the development and the incorporation of stormwater management systems. Many of the spaces were designed to be divers in use, from large to small spaces, as well as spaces that are private to more public. The small spaces were like the enclosed courtyard area by the townhomes which is a semiprivate space and also the porches on the houses are small private spaces. The larger and public spaces are the plaza behind the mixed use building and the formal plaza facing the common green in front of the mixed use building. In all, it was important to create many different types of spaces for the public and its residents.
The stomwater systems used a raingarden that faced the front of the mixed use building that was fed by the overflow of a large cistern. Not only hydrologically did the location of the raingarden work out well but it was the center piece of the overall design. Cisterns were also a component of the overall stormwater system with one big cistern in the middle of the main plaza and additional cisterns placed throughout the site. From many of the precedent studies I found that there are very few places that use cisterns as art pieces or design features.
The areas of the design that could have been done differently were the parking area in one of the plazas and the pavilion by the community center. The parking area in the plaza was done affectively, although one of the parking spaces encroached on to the main walkway. This was an attempt to create a space that was multifunctional. However, the one space could have been removed. The other designed area that could be an issue is the pavilion by the community center that is close to the back of one of the townhomes. It is not a dangerous situation but the person living in that unit may desire more privacy in the back of the house.
Overall, I was pleased with the general outcome of the design and I would have to say that it was one of my better designs that I have done in graduate school. This was also the first time that I have tried a residential development and enjoyed the project very much.
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