Experiential Consistency within Community Design

DesignGroup worked closely with the developer to create an exterior design that worked both with the complex project type and needs of the client while following the stringent neighborhood design guidelines of Columbus’ vibrant Short North community. The team worked to create a project that both was acceptable to the client’s budget and project goals along with the relevant neighborhood commissions. The design strove to create a cohesive massing and design language while responding to varying scalar and material contexts on all sides of the building. The building’s parking garage is clad in a darker brick and its massing is scaled down to transition, both and height and material expression, from the primary volume of the building to neighboring residential areas immediately adjacent. A brick podium along the front façade of the building ties into the heights of adjacent existing three story commercial buildings. Taller portions of the project, housing the residential units, are stepped back from these lower elements and provided with their own material identity. These elements provide a coherent design expression as seen from a larger distance, while the lower portions of the building provide experiential consistency with the surrounding context, a key tenant of the community’s design guidelines.