How can central avenue become a regional business corridor?

How can central avenue become a regional business corridor?

creating a unified district

Central Avenue has the potential to be the heart of Kansas City, Kansas business. Lined with historic store-fronts and small businesses, Central Avenue could be transformed from its current state to support walkability, community engagement, ease of parking and transpor-tation, and environmentally sustainable design features encouraging safety, health and economic prosperity. Investment in the streetscape of Central Avenue would not only improve the safety of pedestrians walking down the economic corridor, but would also generate growth and development for the businesses lining the corridor. Integration of trees, bike paths and benches would en-courage neighborhood use and would create a zone of comfort, walkability and family engagement. The genera-tion of a new branding policy would allow for the corridor to embrace its full economic value through the creation of a business and arts district. This branding would utilize signage, zoning policies and a new economic strategic plan to combine architecture, urban design and business to form a new image, perception, and reality for Central Avenue.

¿Come puede la avenida Central Convertirse en un Corredor region-al de negoCios?

La Avenida Central tiene la potencial de ser el centro de negocio de Kansas City, Kansas. Forrado con tiendas históricos y negocios pequeños, la Avenida Central puede ser transformada de su estado actual para apoyar la idea de caminar, el compromiso de la comunidad, acceso a estacionamiento y transportación, y tener características de diseño ambiental sostenible que apoyan la seguridad, saludad, y prosperidad económica. La integración del diseño en las calles no solo mejoraría la seguridad de los peatones caminado por la calle, sino que generaría el crecimiento y desarrollo para los negocios que existen en el corredor. La corporación de arboles, carriles para bicicletas y asientos fomentaría el uso de la comunidad y crearía zonas de confort y de uso familiar. La generación de una marca política, permitiría el uso del corredor para llegar al máximo económico valor que se puede alcanzar al crear un distrito de negocio y de artes. Esto crearía el uso de signo, zonificación de políticas, y una nueva estrategia económica para combinar la arquitectura, diseño urbano y negocio para crear una nueva imagen, percepción, y realidad para la Avenida Central.

Creando un distrito unifiCado

CULIN THOMPSON

N

Develop Clarity - Dallas, Texas features colored lines guiding individuals to key focal points within the city.Desarrollo de Claridad- Dallas, Texas tiene características de líneas de color que guían al individuo a puntos impor-tantes entre la cuidad.

Develop Density & Security - Lawrence, Kansas downtown Mass Street features a lush amount of green space lining the sidewalks - protecting pedestrians from cars and creating a sense of belong-ing and safety. Desarrollo de Densidad y Seguridad- Lawrence, Kansas tiene el centro de la cuidad, Mass Street, alienado con espacios verdes que alinean las aceras- lo cual protege a los peatones de los carros y crea un sentido de seguridad.

Develop the Street - Hackescher Markt in Berlin, Germany is a street market and restrauant hub building off of a train station stop. The integration and flood of public space into the street unites the surrounding neighborhood. Desarrollo de la Calle- Hackescher Markt en Berlín, Alemania es un mercado en la calle, con restaurantes que se extienden desde la estación de tren. La integración y el fluir de un espacio publico en las calles une al barrio alrededor.

How can central avenue become a regional business corridor?

creating a unified district

Central Avenue has the potential to be the heart of Kansas City, Kansas business. Lined with historic store-fronts and small businesses, Central Avenue could be transformed from its current state to support walkability, community engagement, ease of parking and transpor-tation, and environmentally sustainable design features encouraging safety, health and economic prosperity. Investment in the streetscape of Central Avenue would not only improve the safety of pedestrians walking down the economic corridor, but would also generate growth and development for the businesses lining the corridor. Integration of trees, bike paths and benches would en-courage neighborhood use and would create a zone of comfort, walkability and family engagement. The genera-tion of a new branding policy would allow for the corridor to embrace its full economic value through the creation of a business and arts district. This branding would utilize signage, zoning policies and a new economic strategic plan to combine architecture, urban design and business to form a new image, perception, and reality for Central Avenue.

¿Come puede la avenida Central Convertirse en un Corredor region-al de negoCios?

La Avenida Central tiene la potencial de ser el centro de negocio de Kansas City, Kansas. Forrado con tiendas históricos y negocios pequeños, la Avenida Central puede ser transformada de su estado actual para apoyar la idea de caminar, el compromiso de la comunidad, acceso a estacionamiento y transportación, y tener características de diseño ambiental sostenible que apoyan la seguridad, saludad, y prosperidad económica. La integración del diseño en las calles no solo mejoraría la seguridad de los peatones caminado por la calle, sino que generaría el crecimiento y desarrollo para los negocios que existen en el corredor. La corporación de arboles, carriles para bicicletas y asientos fomentaría el uso de la comunidad y crearía zonas de confort y de uso familiar. La generación de una marca política, permitiría el uso del corredor para llegar al máximo económico valor que se puede alcanzar al crear un distrito de negocio y de artes. Esto crearía el uso de signo, zonificación de políticas, y una nueva estrategia económica para combinar la arquitectura, diseño urbano y negocio para crear una nueva imagen, percepción, y realidad para la Avenida Central.

Creando un distrito unifiCado

CULIN THOMPSON

N

Develop Clarity - Dallas, Texas features colored lines guiding individuals to key focal points within the city.Desarrollo de Claridad- Dallas, Texas tiene características de líneas de color que guían al individuo a puntos impor-tantes entre la cuidad.

Develop Density & Security - Lawrence, Kansas downtown Mass Street features a lush amount of green space lining the sidewalks - protecting pedestrians from cars and creating a sense of belong-ing and safety. Desarrollo de Densidad y Seguridad- Lawrence, Kansas tiene el centro de la cuidad, Mass Street, alienado con espacios verdes que alinean las aceras- lo cual protege a los peatones de los carros y crea un sentido de seguridad.

Develop the Street - Hackescher Markt in Berlin, Germany is a street market and restrauant hub building off of a train station stop. The integration and flood of public space into the street unites the surrounding neighborhood. Desarrollo de la Calle- Hackescher Markt en Berlín, Alemania es un mercado en la calle, con restaurantes que se extienden desde la estación de tren. La integración y el fluir de un espacio publico en las calles une al barrio alrededor.

Parking is not unified along Central Avenue, with street-side meters at 30 minutes, 2 hours and unrestricted parking. The vast amount of surface lots contribute to this facade break and discourage walkability. By re-moving lots and introducing strategic garages long-term parking and walk-ability can be improved within the distict and increase business revenue by increasing streetside availability.

Central Avenue features vacant par-cels, parking lots, homes and other property abnormalities which break the facade of the buildings on Cen-tral Avenue. This break creates an undesirable break of security and placemaking which would help cre-ate a centralized business district and further the human scale of the avenue.

Central Avenue has the potential to be the heart of Kansas City, Kansas business. Lined with historic storefronts and small businesses, Central Avenue could be transformed from its current state to sup-port walkability, community engagement, ease of parking and transportation, and environmentally sustainable design features encouraging safety, health and economic prosperity. Investment in the streetscape of Central Avenue would not only im-prove the safety of pedestrians walking down the economic corridor, but would also generate growth and development for the businesses lining the cor-ridor. Integration of trees, bike paths and benches would encourage neighborhood use and would create a zone of comfort, walkability and family engagement. The generation of a new branding policy would allow for the corridor to embrace its full economic value through the creation of a busi-ness and arts district. This branding would utilize signage, zoning policies and a new economic stra-tegic plan to combine architecture, urban design and business to form a new image, perception, and reality for Central Avenue.

Culin Thompson | Fall 2015 | Criss | ARCH 608

“to provide a conceptual development tHat promotes a safe walkable business district, facilitates community interaction and develops entre-preneursHip to provide business development and sustainable communi-

ties.”

Naperville, ILDowntown Naperville, Illinois features a focus on walkability and length of stay while shop-ping within the business district through safe streets, pedestrian scale and the creation of a dis-tinct district environment.

Parklets are infill projects which can be plugged into parking spaces or placed adjacent to the sidewalk to extend the pub-lic zone. They can be used as small parks, restaurant outdoor seating, or any number of focus areas including fitness or gar-dening activities.

Existing buildings alongside Central Avenue can be renovat-ed to allow for new business start ups to enhance the busi-ness district and spur economic growth. The model of develop-ment from business incubation into a brick-and-mortar allows for local business and commu-nity to develop.

community coffee sHop and incubation commercial space

for business start-ups

Perhaps the most important ele-ment to a walkable district is the relation to the human scale and the provision of safety for the pe-destrian within the built context. Mid-block crosswalks, bike lane and diagonal parking buffer zones and a mid-street median all provide for se-curity from cars for the pedestrians. Reduced width car lanes generate

slower traffic as vehicles enter Kan-sas City and Central Avenue from 18th Street and I-70. Strategically placed parking garages replace voids along the district with central-ized parking - encouraging walking and density to be developed.

15’ Sidewalk 10’ Two-Way Bike Lane 10’ Car Lane 8’ Median 10’ Car Lane 18’ Diagonal Parking Lane 15’ Sidewalk

Stret Section

The surface parking lots placed along Central Avenue break up the potential for a southern continuous facade between 17th and 18th. The Better Block development will create two continuous streetscapes in this block and allows for a model prototype for Central Avenue’s new business district.

The current existing site conditions for the corner of 17th and Central aveue features a gravel lot without any sense of community or prome-nance. The project creates a sense of place among this corner and return it to the community.

By utilizing the developed block facade of the northern section of 18th and Central, a continuous facade can be built along the south-ern side to construct a full con-tinuous block. Improving density, human proportions and scale and pedestrian experiences can help to create a destination for the KC met-ropolitan area.

flexible workspace

community interaction + engagement

collaborative nature

The corner of 17th Street and Cen-tral Avenue is an important corner alongside the introduction of the parking structure along 17th Street. This corner thus relates the pedes-trian scale and pedestrian to Cen-tral Avenue. The main parti for the project involves rounding the corner of 17th and Central to further relate the site and context to the integral bend and cross of roads. The focus of circulation around the courtyard requires the inner focus of all as-pects of the project - business incu-bation and housing - back centrally to the inner courtyard.

The carving of the corner and push/pull of volumes creates an inter-per-sonal space upon which interior/exterior relationships can be gener-ated. This public space can be uti-lized for outdoor coffee and dining space or retail - a strong relation-ship tie between the program of the building interior and the community surrounding the project.

First Floor

Second Floor

Third Floor

First Floor

Second Floor

Third Floor

RES

IDEN

TIAL

COM

MER

CIAL

CIRCULATION

The project is divided between com-mercial and residential sectors of the building, yet promotes commu-nity and collaborative interaction throughout the building through its design and focus to the central courtyard. By pulling all commer-cial space to the northern Cetnral Avenue facade, the coffee shop and business interactions become visible and promenent along the street - encouraging the spirit of the community and economic growth of the area. Pulling the residential zones to the southern side of the building provides for a semi-private zone within the structure to allow for residents to relax within their own private studio space.

Balancing public space, communal courtyards, business incubation space, a coffee shop and residenc-es required a centralized yet divided circulation system in which the two vertical systems address separate components of the building - resi-dences and business - respectively.

CIRC

ULAT

ION

LOBBYHOUSINGHOUSING

BUSINESSBUSINESS

PUBLIC SPACEGREEN

One of the most essential com-ponents to a collaborative office environment is an emphasis on flexibility within design. The BGT Headquarters Building in Florida is a prime example of this as applied to the coffee shop within the project - allowing for flexible seating and a relaxed environment which fosters collaborative problem solving.

By generating flexible zones utilizing bean bags, long mobile tables and open spaces, business entrepre-neurs can collaborate by sharing ideas, strategies and partnering on resources to grow each other’s busi-ness plans, models and buildings.

The open plan and interior visibility extend to the services of the incu-bation space - only featuring one glass conference room and locat-ing business offices and resource rooms on the first floor require in-teraction between members and a collaborative, sharing environment in which members support and help build one another.

As the corner condition evolved, the overhanging floors above this carved public zone became key drivers in the representation of how the building and its purpose reach out to the community to serve the needs of those within Kansas City.

Above: The wooden rain screen fa-cade operates in 30” panels gliding along track channels. The screens can operate individually between their fully closed and fully open position to maximize views or en-courage total privacy along Central Avenue or 17th Street.

Operable Facade Elevations

Central Avenue

17th

Stre

et

18th

Stre

et

N

Site Plan | 1/32” = 1’

The third floor features a residential housing lobby and flexible business zones. This flexible and multipur-pose zone allows for large business presentations, conference meetings and community events/parties. The focus of views to the inner court-yard provides a focus towards com-munity events and planning.

The project is divided into five com-ponents: site, structure, circulation, facade and rain screen. The con-crete cast in place structure holds the curtain facade of the project - with the wooden rain screen at-taching to this facade. The vertical circulation within the building hugs the courtyard providing views and community space to the project.

Enlarged Apartment Plans | 1/8” = 1’

Exploaded Axonometric

Block Elevation

Site

Structure

Circulation

Facade

Rain Screen

Site

Structure

Circulation

Facade

Rain Screen

Enlarged Courtyard Connection | 1/8” = 1’

The three buildings generating Bet-ter Block work together to provide a streamlined business model of office and legal generation, cre-ation and cooking. This model pro-vides for collaborative courtyards and connected buildings alongside courtyards and communal spaces which provide for community build-ing and collaborative business gen-eration.

Structural Grid | 1/16” = 1’ First Floor Plan | 1/16” = 1’

Second Floor Plan | 1/16” = 1’ Third Floor Plan | 1/16” = 1’

Section A | 1/16” = 1’Second Floor Block Plan

Section B | 1/16” = 1’

A

B

Roof Assembly:1/2” Drainage MembraneVapor BarrierSloped Rigid Insulation1.5’ Concrete Roof

CMU ParapetMetal Casing

Wooden Rain Screen

Metal Furring Channel

Wall Assembly:5/8” Gypsum Wall BoardMetal Stud Wall2” Rigid InsulationBatt Insulation Filler2” Rigid InsulationVapor BarrierWooden Rain Screen

Screen Panel Operating Motor

Metal Casing

Screen Draw Cable

T Channel Fastener

Operable NanaWall

12” Polished Concrete Floor

Acoustic Cloud

2” Rigid InsulationGravelWater Drainage Pipe

Curtain Wall System

Wall Section | 1/4” = 1’

Rendered Partial Elevation | 1/4” = 1’