Planning – H³

Larimer Crossing

Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) is a 150 acre campus uniquely master-planned to accommodate the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver), the Community College of Denver and the Metropolitan State University of Denver. The three academic institutions have a combined population of over 50,000 students. The campus is separated from adjacent Downtown Denver by the eight-lane arterial road of Speer Boulevard. With the growth of both Downtown Denver and the future build out of the Auraria campus, an increasing number of pedestrians must navigate across the busy roadway. H3 was engaged by the City and the AHEC campus to study what level of resources are required to accomplish a safe and seamless Auraria – Downtown connection and what type of connection is afforded given the resources available.

A steering committee was organized with 20 members including academic, civic and commercial interests. Working with the committee, the H3 team studied multiple approaches, analyzing options related to type, focus, cost and location. The study also explored the untapped land use benefits deriving from reuse of underutilized parking lots and the possibilities of a grand civic space within the median of Speer Boulevard. The selected option was a bridge that connected through a future facility for academic use and a Welcome Park within the median, aligned with the historic commercial district of Larimer Street. The design seeks to create a shared “Main Street from the campus heart into Downtown,” extending the vibrant uses on both ends along the connection.

A short term tactical urbanism plan was developed to incorporate programmed events and temporary uses to jumpstart place-making and to develop proof-of-concept ideas for more permanent solutions. Pedestrian safety would be improved with traffic calming measures reducing the width of the street, expanding sidewalks and creating a protected bike lane. Crosswalks will be formalized and streetscape continuity reinforced with new paving, light fixtures, street furniture, graphics, trees and landscape improvements.

The second phase would develop plans for the pedestrian bridge and Welcome Park. The design for the Welcome Park calls for elevating the green space over retail facing Larimer Street and a cafe pavilion above, which will reduce the apparent width of the crossing and encourage activity along the connection. Daylighting the creek bed on the southeast corner will improve open space access. Additional public space and public art installations spanning between Lawrence and Market Streets will enhance campus-downtown life with complementing uses.

Lastly, a long term plan for development of a multi-story academic building within the median will create additional space for the campus as well as a signature gateway building to the Downtown District. Additional parcels now utilized as parking lots will also be reinvented as housing, commercial and cultural uses, extending the activities of the Denver Performing Arts Complex to the north.

CLIENT: Auraria Higher Education Center / City of Denver
COMPLETION: 2017
SIZE: 16.5 acres

Denver Performing Arts Complex

With over 10,000 seats, the Denver Performing Arts Complex is the nation’s second largest center for the arts after Lincoln Center. Designed and constructed in the late 1970’s, DPAC today occupies a wholly different landscape. Urban life has changed, audiences have diversified and traditional funding models are challenged. In response, the City of Denver’s Department of Arts and Venues engaged H3 and Webb Management Services to develop a visionary master plan for the complex and its surrounding district.

H3’s process includes an extensive public outreach effort. Community and emerging arts groups are significant stakeholders in the plan, in addition to the complex’s resident arts organizations and the City. Programming, physical and financial concerns will be integrated into a comprehensive plan for revitalization of the complex. Development of new programs and transformation of the Complex’s street presence are critical to repositioning DPAC’s identity in the city.

The master plan will contain a range of tangible improvements. Large scale catalytic projects are envisioned to shift investment from government support towards public-private partnerships. New commercial, residential and hotel development will make the complex viable in the future. In the near to mid term timeframes, capital facility improvements will change the character of underused physical spaces. Lastly, an intensive program of activities and events will give exposure to community art organizations, increase revenues, draw new audiences to DPAC. With these changes, DPAC will continue to be a vital and exciting center for Denver’s growing arts community.

CLIENT: City of Denver, Arts and Venues
COMPLETION: 2030
SIZE: 12 acres, 2.4m square feet
COST: $150 million public investment | $600 million private

Vision for a New Midtown

H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture developed a plan for a new Midtown Manhattan as part of the Municipal Arts Society’s New Penn Station Design Challenge.

In pursuit of making rail the “mode of choice”, H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture asserts that four inextricably linked interventions must be made to improve the City’s essential systems and better express its culture: 1) Public Space, Entertainment, and the Environment; 2) Transportation; 3) Education; and 4) Economic Development.

A relocation of Madison Square Garden to a 16-acre site on the west side waterfront provides an enhanced venue with a singular new identity and expanded tourist, hospitality, and entertainment opportunities.

The New Penn Station, including an eight-track high-speed rail expansion to the south, accommodates increased capacity and integrates community and traveler amenities, including a new 3 acre public park, retail complex, and 2 acre roof garden. Redevelopment of the Farley Post Office creates a centrally located Center for Education. And, perhaps most importantly, 24 million square feet of private development around Penn Station and up Seventh Avenue serves as an economic engine for improvements and a revived world-class commercial district.

CLIENT: Municipal Arts Society
COMPLETION: 2013

Adelphi University Master Plan

After the recent completion of their strategic plan, Adelphi 2015, Adelphi University selected H3’s team to complete a facilities master plan update and pre-design services for a near-term, phase 1 addition of approximately 80,000 gsf to the campus core.

The project included a thorough needs assessment with regard to academic program and the campus’s facilities. We conducted a robust stakeholder outreach program with a kickoff meeting attended by each Dean and Director followed by 16 individual interview sessions and tours of their respective colleges and/or program facilities. We determined that the University will have a year 2020 shortfall of approximately 240,000 gsf and several existing buildings that are not suitable for their current uses. In addition to the need for new space we determined that of the 32,000 gsf of classroom and lab space on campus 24,000 gsf is of low quality with the remaining 8,000 gsf superior.

We then prioritized near, mid, and longer term needs in phased projects to be planned out to year 2030. A key challenge on the project was accommodating expansion on the Garden City Campus, as it rests on an underlying R-20 Residential Zoning District and is restricted to 20% lot coverage, a maximum floor-area-ratio (development capacity) of .5, and height limits of 3 to 4 levels.

The final phase of the project, completed in Fall 2011, included a pre-design package with a full building program, schematic levels plans, renderings, and total project cost estimates.

CLIENT: Adelphi University
COMPLETION: 2012
SIZE: 75 Acres, 32 Buildings, 3.3 Million Square Feet

Penn Digital Garden

West Midtown has no central public space to define the area or give it focus. Our plan for the Penn Digital Garden creates a public amenity that improves the value of the surrounding development as well as establishes a great urban amenity.

The idea of creating places in West Midtown that are welcoming, resonate with activity and provide income for maintenance of their public spaces is a logical extension of the commercial signage characteristically existing in this part of town. Not intended to duplicate or compete with Times Square, our proposal is for a series of coordinated digital sign elements, not “spectaculars”. These more intimately scaled pylons and screens are primarily designed to define each place. They would be programmed with changing presentations to offer advertising, news and public service announcements.

Beyond conventional advertising uses, the pylons and digital screens of different shapes could also be used by visual artists who could adapt this technology to their purposes, creating installations that would be unusually compelling and exciting. Whether abstract or representational, these changing images could take over every screen in the district at specific times, such as every hour or half-hour. These installations invent a “you had to be there” attraction, drawing flows of visitors to experience the event and giving a rich diversity and activity to the Digital Garden.

CLIENT: Two Penn Plaza
COMPLETION: 2014
SIZE: 3.5 acres

Washington University – Food Service Master Plan

For Washington University in St. Louis, H3 completed a comprehensive food service master plan for the Danforth Campus. The plan proposes alternatives to accommodate a ten percent increase in student enrollment over the next ten years, the arrival of some previously satellite programs, and significant development of the East Precinct.

We provided recommendations for the Danforth University Center (“the DUC”) to address seating and capacity issues, while ensuring the overall experience is an integrated part of academic life. A full building master plan was created for reconfiguration and expansion of the DUC that would join the historic Umrath Lounge and Mallinckrodt Hall with a new connector: “the Link”.

We also developed an East End Campus plan for new food services in response to shifting populations relative to new parking and academic buildings. Programming and pre-design plans were developed for an East End Market that may be linked to a University welcome center. As conceived, it will serve as social hub for students, prospective students, faculty, museum goers, and nearby residents.

Overall, the plan provides clear recommendations and concepts that will help Washington University in St. Louis meet evolving demands for student food service and related amenities.

CLIENT: Washington University in St. Louis
COMPLETION: 2011
SIZE:

Lower Manhattan Theater

H3’s study for a new cultural and performing arts facility envisions an innovative home for the arts in Lower Manhattan, fostering interdisciplinary exchanges between a broad range of artists and audiences. Located on a constricted lot and adjacent to several subway lines, the design of the center vertically stacks program spaces to take advantage of allowable zoning height. An innovative structural system distributes loads down and around the multiple auditoriums to provide column-free spaces throughout the building.

The building includes a 1000-seat auditorium, a 200-seat second stage rehearsal facilities, and office space. A ground level “mixing box” provides access to adjacent subway platforms below the theater, as well as express elevators and escalators to the event spaces above. Retail, business services, educational classrooms and a cabaret venue enliven the street presence of the center.

Front-of-house lobby and public spaces are located along the exterior perimeter of the building, allowing for daylight and views to the surrounding neighborhood. Back of house and support spaces are also oriented to daylight, enhancing the day-to-day use of rehearsal, office and practice spaces. Service and loading for the theaters is accessed through several secure vertical lifts, including a large scenery elevator.

The unique program of this facility generates a vibrant and versatile incubator for new artistic work and a stimulating venue for national and international performing arts groups. The partnership between arts uses above and transit connections below will further the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, ensuring the civic presence of this important site.

CLIENT: Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
COMPLETION: 2008
SIZE: 260,000SF

Red Hook Bicycle Master Plan

H3 was selected as finalist in the Forum for Urban Design’s international competition to create a Bicycle Master Plan for Red Hook – one of Brooklyn’s most transit challenged neighborhoods.

The competition brief called for the development a comprehensive bicycle network, streetscape program and wayfinding system, as well as propose a design for a bicycle storage loft at the area’s only subway station. Ultimately, the vision for the competition was to address some of the neighborhood’s biggest problems: accessibility, transportation and social equality.

Red Hook is generally underserved by public transit and cut off from most other neighborhoods by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, so there is a heavier-than-normal reliance on cars. Because of the abundance of heavy industrial uses mixed among the residential neighborhoods, it tends to be inhospitable to bicycle travel.

H3 envisioned a three-fold solution: a bike loft at the MTA Smith Street/Ninth Street Station; a bike-pedestrian bridge crossing over Hamilton Avenue beneath the heavily-traveled Brooklyn Queens Expressway; and an innovative bikescape that will integrate into the Brooklyn streetscape of cars, bikes and pedestrians allowing a seamless traffic hierarchy to exist.

The concept that drove the H3 scheme was that good urban design, coherent planning, and thoughtful architecture are all necessary elements to create great neighborhoods that are vital, active and safe for all its users.

CLIENT: Forum for Urban Design
COMPLETION: 2009

Round Rock Cultural Arts Plan

On May 26th, 2011, H3’s Arts and Culture in Public Spaces Strategic Plan and Implementation Guide was unanimously adopted by the City of Round Rock Council with widespread community support. Implementation is fully underway with impressive attention from senior City staff and elected officials.Working closely with Webb Management Services we developed a comprehensive ten-year strategic plan and implementation guide to define the role of the City in cultivating arts and culture. Round Rock is located 15 miles north of Austin in the Central Texas Hill Country, and has a healthy commercial engine anchored by Dell Computer’s Headquarters and a vibrant higher education and healthcare sector.

However, until the adoption of the Plan, the rapidly growing City of 150,000 had no comprehensive strategic plan for supporting the arts. Ultimately the plan was developed to ensure the entire community is served by arts and attract the “creative class” as part of a broader economic development effort. The Plan’s foundation was the previous adopted Game On 2060 Strategic Plan, General Plan 2020 and Downtown Master Plan. A key element of this vision is the development of the area’s artistic and cultural environment to further enhance the quality of life in Round Rock. Community goals, cultural mapping, demand estimates, and best practices shaped the Plan and aided in developing recommendations for an arts and cultural vision. A menu of programs, events, public art, planning strategies, and facilities development were created that best support the vision.

CLIENT: City of Round Rock, Texas
COMPLETION: 2011
SIZE: 26 Square Miles

Take Me To The River – West Harlem Cultural Plan

As part of a team of consultants, H3 provided architectural and historic preservation consulting to the Manhattan Borough President for the implementation phase of an urban design, landscaping and cultural planning study in West Harlem and Washington Heights. Intended to build on the economic and cultural strengths of the thriving and diverse neighborhoods, the plan capitalizes on recreational opportunities and beauty of the Hudson River waterfront.

The Borough President and West Harlem Art Fund obtained a grant from the Environmental Protection Fund’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program to generate community-based planning recommendations. The recommendations aim to improve access to the Hudson River waterfront and Riverside Park; support and stimulate the area’s retail environment through streetscape enhancements; optimize the pedestrian environment; and promote and strengthen existing cultural resources and assets. With careful attention paid to the needs and wishes of community residents, local community boards, and elected offcials, the team developed a framework that includs architectural upgrades, construction of new facilities, and cultural event programming to leverage the existing cultural fabric of the neighborhood and drive visitation, retail development, and economic growth.

Through an extensive series of public outreach meetings, interviews with local organizations and public forums, we identifed an epicenter of cultural activity within the neighborhood to be located at the historic Audubon Terrace museum complex at 155th Street and Broadway. Additional enhancements included a gateway plaza on 155th Street, expansion of Ilka Tanya Payan Park, temporary structures for food kiosks, children’s play areas, and local promotion of street vendors and artists.

CLIENT: Office of the Manhattan Borough President / West Harlem Art Fund
COMPLETION: 2009
SIZE: 145 acres