There are two major elements to this discussion happening now:

1. Smart Growth Overlay Districts
2. Stop & Shop on Northampton St

The city Planning Department and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission have outlined three forms of Smart Growth Overlay Districts for the downtown area. These overlay districts will allow the property within them to be developed more densely, with mixed-uses, and be more walkable. It will help to focus development on these areas so that the outlying open space around the city can remain untouched. The city is holding a public meeting this Tuesday to discuss these proposed overlays. I urge the city and residents to approve these districts. They will help to preserve and enhance the quality of life in the city.

This past Wednesday, the Planning Board unanimously approved the permit by Stop & Shop to build a new store on Northampton Street. This approval is in direct contrast to the overlay district proposed for that same lot. Back in September, the board denied S&S’s request because the parking lot was located in the front. Present regulations (as well as the proposed overlay district) state that parking must be located to the side and/or back with the building structure located along the street. The new plan presented this past Wednesday is the same plan. The only changes are that a small building and gas station that were proposed in September to be at the street have been removed. S&S’s present plan still has a huge parking lot located in the front with the main structure located at the back of the property. The issue here is that the front parking lot increases driver visibility on Route 10 making them drive faster as well as decreases walkability as people will have to walk through a sea of blacktop to get to the store.

The city is making a great and well-thought move by proposing the Smart Growth Overlay Districts. The Planning Board on the other hand is just taking this backwards by approving Stop & Shop’s latest plan. I’m hoping that the “green” elements that S&S proposed in their plan are actually implemented and worth it for the city. That big parking lot is only going to give other developers reason to do the same.

The concept of adaptive reuse is what initially drew me to pursue my Masters in Urban Planning. While one aspect of it may draw people to the architectural field, I am more interested in the concept of using adaptive reuse methods as a tool for community and economic development and sustainability. For my first semester in my Masters program, I had to do a focus study on an aspect of urban planning that interested me. This study would need to include articles, advocacy, policies, and journal articles regarding the topic. Each student then needed to put together an entire portfolio of all of these readings, present a synopsis poster on the topic, and write a reflection/literary review paper. Instead of doing a portfolio, I requested the ability to put together a website. For me a website made more sense as it would easier to search and find as well as offer more flexibility for organization than a binder.

After the course was complete, I decided that I had a lot of material that lent itself to a more complete, open website. So I developed AdaptiveReuse.info. The site focuses on case studies of successful adaptive reuse projects. It also is a portal to news, advocacy, policies, and criticisms/issues regarding the field. I’ve also put together a “book club” of literary on the topic.

The site uses WordPress for content management and is adapted from the Full Screen design template by Graph Paper Press.

Coinciding with the start of my internship at the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC), the group was undertaking a complete redesign and redevelopment of their website. With the programming contracted out to Dan Collis-Puro, I was asked to assist with the project by developing its design and coordinating production.

The new site, launched in December 2009, offers cleaner navigation and consistent layout and font. Utilizing BrowserCMS, the staff now has a much easier, more straight-forward method to updating the site in the future. Google has been heavily integrated: utilizing Google Calendars to manage two calendars (the association, the members), Google Analytics for tracking, and Google Maps for a clear display of all the member organizations within the Commonwealth.

That now leaves me with about five weeks of break time. And now I find myself a bit lost. I was so used to being busy with reading, papers, and projects during the semester that I now have time that I don’t know how to use. I am working on a research project with one of the professors as well as putting together a new online resource website. There are also two urban planning competitions that I’ll be working on. It however feels weird but liberating not to be busy non-stop right now.

I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts.

The convention include mobile workshops that took part around metro Boston and evaluated options to create more livable communities in those locations (better transit and access which results in happier, healthier citizens that are in the end more willing to consumer). While there certainly is the capitalist self-interest of those vendors looking to “sell” the community on their method of transportation (streetcars, bike lanes, etc.), the public good is the front-and-center concern.

It was great to see so many people focused on this new movement, this new paradigm shift away from the mentality that life has to revolve around the automobile. As Americans, we are finally learning what our European and Japanese counterparts have long understood, mass transit benefits all and is environmentally and socially just. There is a lot of work to be done in order to complete this shift, but the cogs are moving and the convention was a great reflection on that movement.

Sadly though, there are two recent items that I have noted that are in direct contradiction to the public’s desire to move away from the automobile. And those two items come directly from the auto industry itself:

1. Audi recently put out a new ad to promote their “clean diesel” A3 TDI. As they put it, it’s more “fun” to do your part (save the environment) by driving their car rather than using any alternative to the automobile. It’s quite funny how they show the negative aspects to alternative travel methods and not a single negative aspect to driving a car. Those would include but of course are not limited to (on the individual level): high cost to purchase the car, constant costs to maintain and insure the car, housing/parking for the car, safety concerns with the car, environmental impact to produce and deliver the car. But hey, it’s fun to drive a “clean diesel” car, right. It’s still a non-renewable resource.

2. Lexus is sponsoring the Parkitecture Design Competition. As Americans decide to use other transit options, the need for multiple cars within their family is shrinking. Lexus thinks otherwise. The competition promotes the concept of 1) a free-standing building (great use of land area) and 2) the need to store up to three autos (though they do not state this is for the hypothetical family but they also do not state that you should consider in the design the access by multiple families).

I myself am auto-free though we do have one car in the family, a car that is rarely ever used thanks to the awesome T and walkable neighborhoods here in Metro Boston. While I myself will not be sway by a fun car ad or made to think I really need a cool new garage, there are others that will be affected by these. These same individuals may have begun to sway to alternative methods. And its these same individuals that the auto industry is grasping for. A paradigm shift is inevitable, it will be exciting to see when it fully comes to fruition.

To begin with, Flint described the present focus on planning – infill, redevelopment, building off of and expanding public transit. As he noted, this stands in stark contrast to the actions happening in the 1960s – and it was these two pivotal people (Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs) who helped get us to where we are today.

It was interesting to hear how he compared the two. Generally, the planning field is (now) very critical of Robert Moses while many (especially the New Urbanists) praise Jane Jacobs. It turns out though that they had their similarities and weren’t wholly positive or negative.

One of the biggest issues facing planners these days is NIMBY-ism (Not-In-My-Back-Yard). Flint pointed out that it was Jacobs that really started this concept. Her efforts to protect New York’s neighborhoods from demolition for highway projects encouraged the public to protect their home and the area around it. He also noted that it was this same “protectionism” that she sponsored that saved homes in the West Village. That same neighborhood has gone through major gentrification, resulting in the displacement of the same people Jacobs wanted to save from highway displacement. It’s resulted in a new guerilla campaign More Jane Less Marc. Of course, he brand of public concern and action had a much greater positive effect – such as the great freeway revolts in Boston and San Francisco.

While Jacobs provided America with the concept of “human-scale neighborhoods,” Flint made the case for Moses’s concern and focus on infrastructure. We are at the cusp of an infrastructure meltdown. Sadly, the public backlash regarding Moses caused us to turn away from infrastructure rather than incorporate it equitably.

Flint closed his presentation with the question “How does a city reinvent itself?” Jacobs left us the owner’s manual for the city and neighborhood. Now we need to embrace density through proper design and scale, transit node focus, and distribution of parks.

Following his presentation, Flint opened the floor to questions and discussions. These included:

• Do we need government subsidies?
• What will be the effect of the new MassDOT
• Smart growth initiative for mixed-income developments
• How to balance NIMBY-ism
• Developing on/near the Greenway
• Flint’s concern and focus on climate change and our responsibility for immediate action
• Where is the future of planning heading?
• The importance of visualizing a plan through new technology and how it fits into the regional framework
• Jacobs would support the Times Square traffic calming measures (she attempted something similar) and potential congestion charges
• Potential for sustainability to converge the engineering and planning fields

Easthampton is my home town. I hold it close to my heart. As an urban planning graduate student, I also am quite interested in the Master Plan which Easthampton approved in 2008. The plan reflects the fact that the city is growing but that the growth must be done through smart growth functions. Developed with assistance from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, the Master Plan incorporates elements to ensure the city is a community and not a strip development.

This brings us back to the topic of Stop & Shop. The residents of Easthampton have always shunned big box developments. While an effort to formalize the consent failed, the city has never approved a large retail development within its borders. A single grocery store, Big E’s, is in town – a mainstay for decades though significantly smaller than any grocery store of today. There are a few small specialty grocers in town, but Big E’s has been the only true grocery store. Big Y, based in Springfield, attempted to build a store in town back in the 1980s, however, that initiative failed and the company was forced to build in Southampton on the Easthampton border.

Discussions regarding big box developers in town have come up a number of times. Previously they were seen as a potential opportunity for economic invigoration during the town’s recessive years in the 1980s and early 1990s. Those days have since been replaced by the economic “boom” that Easthampton saw in the 1990s and 2000s, starting with the establishment of a lively artist community. People now regularly walk and shop throughout town, something we certainly did not see in the 1980s.

The latest Master Plan builds off that ideal. It focuses on strengthening the business core of the city, establishing a highway business district along Northampton St – all with a walkable community in mind.

Stop & Shop filed for development under “planned business development”. Under this type, a development must place its parking at the side or rear of the building. A number of studies have been done to show the negative impact of front-located parking lots. Easthampton has deemed this type of parking lot out of favor. Stop & Shop’s submitted development plan clearly placed its parking lot in front of the structure (though behind two minor streetside-located buildings).

It was this blatant disregard for Easthampton’s approved parking guidelines that caused Stop & Shop’s plan to be rejected. The Planning Board was not rejecting the development on the basis it was big box or that the town does not need business development. It was rejected on the terms that the public good must prevail. The city had created specific design guidelines that the public desired. Those businesses that desire to work and grow in the town must respect the desire of the public.

Unlike board chairman, Jason Duda, I too would have rejected the plan. The citizens of the town shot down a no-big-box ordinance. The Planning Board must therefore approve big box development. Those developments must adhere to the public’s design guidelines. If Stop & Shop revises their plans in accordance to town regulation, I’m all for supporting this business. The town is growing and does need additional food sources. The town however must ensure that those food sources are established with the public good and concern in mind.

Jason Duda clearly had some self interest weighing on his shoulders when he stated he supported the development. For him, the board should approve the plan (with conditions). This just leaves the door open to interpretation and additional issues with future developments. By requiring the builder to adhere to the guidelines BEFORE approval, the Board has solidified and qualified those standards. Jason Duda needs to be reminded of his duties as a board member – those duties state he is serving the public, not Stop & Shop.

Thank you Ann M. Parizo, Harry E. Schumann and Chester H. Seklecki Jr for supporting Easthampton’s desire to be a true community, in spirit and physical development.

One of the first things we came to realize is the transit access inequity that exists in Boston. Each of the volunteers come from academic centers in the area that are all well-serviced by the MBTA. This resulted in the fact that only a few of us had cars to help get students around to each of the houses. While we are used to get around much of Cambridge, Boston, and Brighton with the T, we realized that doing so in Dorchester would not be as possible. Economically, Dorchester is not as wealthy as the rest of the city. I’m wondering if the lower value is due to the lacking public service or does the city not provide the service due to the lower value. It’s an interesting and difficult topic which we have discussed in our studies in urban planning and one that we directly faced today.

Aside from the transit issue, my group of six volunteers decided we would use the Red Line to at least get us to our general canvasing area and then walk around to the houses. The group of six (made up of myself and two other Tuft students, two BU Law students, and a Harvard Law student) then broke down to two groups of three. This was done so as not to scary or oppress the resident who came to the door and saw a number of people at the stairs.

This turned out to be a moot point. My group had four houses on our list of foreclosures to visit. Each house (except for two) had three units in it. It was our task to determine if the residents still lived at the house and if so, assist them by providing information about their legal right to remain in the unit as well as the community effort to buy back the property. Out of the eight doors that we went to, we only spoke with one resident (who actually did not speak any English). Another one of the homes had since been vacated, leaving us to be concerned that the bank may have wrongfully persuaded the tenant out of the building. We did leave information at all residences (except the vacated one) in hopes that the tenants would look it over either when they got home or after we left – we had a feeling people were at some of their homes when we came but chose not to answer the door.

While it was a bit of a letdown to not actually interact with a majority of the residents, we did what we could on this trip to inform them. Thankfully, we do redouble our efforts for residents who do not get a direct interaction so we (or another volunteer) may be back to try to help them out. Our biggest concern is that they don’t move out of their home unless they are fully aware of their rights and truly want to do so.

I’m still pumped and ready for the next canvasing event. Until next time…

During Clinton’s leadership, he enacted the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy as a method to open military positions to homosexual citizens. Prior to this policy, the military restricted its ranks to only heterosexuals. While the intent was noble, it has had its issues. The first of which is that be establishing the policy, Clinton simply created a bandaid to hide the military’s discrimination. The policy doesn’t actually allow you to serve if you are not heterosexual. It simply forbids officials to inquire about your orientation. If a serviceman/woman is found to be homosexual, they can be discharged. The policy did not correct and abolish the discrimination.

This was all too clear as demonstrated in the story of Private Barry Winchell. The film, Soldier’s Girl, is about Winchell who falls in love with a transgendered woman, while he is training for the military. One of his squadmates becomes enraged by the idea that Winchell may be gay and decides to get rid of the issue. After the ruthless murder of Winchell, Clinton requested a review of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Sadly, nothing came of it.

While many may praise Clinton for bringing some equality with the DADT policy, this was completely overshadowed in 1996 when he wrote into federal law the Defense of Marriage Act – a truly bigoted article that still stands today. This legislation states that the federal government of the US only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman. It goes on to state that no state is required to recognize a same-sex relationship as marriage even if it is considered a marriage in another state. The act laid the potential foundation for a federal ban on same-sex marriage. It has been used as rationale for many states in the country to actually restrict marriages to only heterosexual.

In Clinton’s statement yesterday, he acknowledged that it is not the federal government’s place to step into the marriage discussion and that each state is free to decide on marriage rights within their own borders. While I’m glad he’s finally had this insight, it does nothing for the country that still has the Defense of Marriage Act on the books.

In the past few years, we’ve seen nearly all of New England (Maine and New Hampshire are in the works, Connecticut does not) as well as Iowa stand up for equal rights. These six states have pledged to their residents the open freedom to wed their partner, whether same or opposite sex. While this equality struggle has some great news, it is overshadowed by the 29 states that have constitutional bans on gay marriage – the biggest shock was California which repealed the gay marriage right in 2008. Over 18,000 same-sex couples were married in those five months of freedom in California.

It’s difficult to tell where the marriage equality road will lead us. Sadly, many people have allowed their religious beliefs to blind them. I know that it’s been used before, but it’s so relevant – if we allowed religious beliefs to dictate our legal rights, African-Americans and women today would not have the right to vote or own property. Regardless of whether a person believes homosexuality is a choice or genetic/natural, the fact remains that there are homosexuals. We live and breath just like everyone else. We obey the law and pay our taxes just like everyone else. And we harm no one by living our lives as who we are. If the thought of same-sex couples causes you mental distress, that is born out of your own inner workings. The oppressors have no idea what it’s like until they’ve put on the oppresseds’ shoes.

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

Thanks to Massachusetts law, residents are provided security with regard to their homes. While many banks are taking possession to private homes and apartment buildings due to foreclosures, the residents have the ability to remain in their home until they receive a fair hearing in court. Many homeowners and renters however are unaware of these rights.

Myself and at least 50 other undergraduate and graduate students attended the training session last night at Harvard. Coming from Harvard, Harvard Law, Tufts, Suffolk Law, and Northeastern, each student was certainly inspired by the stories and the potential to help. While we will not be giving legal advice, we go to the foreclosed homes to provide information for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

The foreclosure crisis, brought on by faulty and poorly conceived mortgages, has blindsided both homeowners and renters. The banks then make the situation worse by illegally telling residents they need to move out immediately. Thankfully, we will be able to help make sure they don’t have to actually leave. I’ll be sure to update the blog after each outreach session.

I’m sure I don’t need to extol the advantages of Twitter – from simple informational postings to cross promotion to immense and timely news – it’s really an unbelievable platform. While I’ve fine tuned the consistency between my website, blog and Twitter presences, I’ve also played around with a number of Twitter clients. There are numerous reviews for these applications, so I won’t bore you with a running evaluation of each one. I do however want to reflect on my one true Twitter love – Tweetie.

Tweetie offers a clean and unobtrusive interface. The user window is compact and definitely Mac. The beauty in the product is in its seemingly simple and straight-forward design. Like Seesmic and TweetDeck, Tweetie offers the ability to view “columns.” Seesmic and TweetDeck however take up enormous screen space to truly utilize them. Tweetie on the other hand places the “columns” on the left side via beautiful access buttons. You can add a number of additional columns (saved searches). Also like other Twitter clients, Tweetie can manage multiple Twitter accounts. I haven’t gone down that route just yet, but it’s nice to know that I won’t have to switch software (again).

If you tweet from a Mac, I would definitely suggest checking out Tweetie. The software is free (ad-version) and is also available for the iPhone. I haven’t bought into their iPhone version (I’m really not into the blue/grey iPhone email design they use) and will stick with TweetDeck for iPhone for now. Happy tweeting!

UPDATE

Yesterday (Sept 27) I went all-Tweetie. I decided to try out the Tweetie iPhone app and surprisingly love it. I wasn’t as excited about it due to its design (looks just like the blue/grey iPhone email app). The application however acts so smoothly, just like Tweetie for Mac. I’m sticking with Tweetie for both my laptop and iPhone going forward – and just in time.

The Boston Garden
• Easily accessible by public transit (a major train terminal is below the Garden)

Foxboro Stadium
• MBTA only runs trains to/from the stadium for Patriots games

The Boston Garden
• Centrally-located in downtown Boston

Foxboro Stadium
• Over 20 miles from Boston

The Boston Garden Show in 2005
• Excellent performance
• Excellent music
• Excellent experience

The Foxboro Stadium Show in 2009
• Excellent performance (the portion we got to see)
• Excellent music (the portion we got to see)
• Horrible experience

As Gillette Stadium is out in no-man’s land (Foxboro), we had to drive out to the concert. We had given ourselves plenty of time to get there and deal with about an hour of haggling for parking. Sadly, the tie-up to get to the stadium started about 7 miles before the Rt 1 exit off of I-95. That was then followed by more than 3 miles to get from the exit to the stadium. The cause of this horrible bottom neck – the system set up for the stadium allows for only two points of entry to the parking. Parking is located off of one long street (Rt 1). The entire crowd is herded along the road and passed into the next available lot. Considering the size of Gillette, this means A LOT of people are being forced into this restrictive path.

In the end, it took us 3.5 hours (yes) to finally get a parking space – a parking space managed by Gillette and costing $40. That required a 20-minute walk to finally get to the gates. By the time we got to the field (we had general admission tickets), Snow Patrol was LONG gone and U2 had been on stage for 45 minutes.

The experience for the remainder of the show was excellent. The lighting, the open stage format, the song selections – all right on. The performance was certainly no letdown. The overall time though was completely mired by the location selection.

I hope for U2’s sake (and another other major performer) that they think twice about having a show at Gillette. While it can hold nearly 70,000 in the seats, quantity is a horrible tradeoff for quality. The fans would much prefer a smaller experience if it can be accessed more easily. PLEASE USE THE GARDEN NEXT TIME.

Wired Magazine recently covered the growing popularity of Settlers of Catan. For those of you who may not have played this game yet, it’s a German board game that deals with land speculation and resources. The game has been around for two decades now, but it is catching on very recently in the U.S. (we actually have the game at home). Wired’s focus on the game however is whether it will surpass the popularity of Monopoly.

Oddly enough, this month Google and Hasbro released Monopoly City Streets. This brand new take on the game provides world-wide interaction and the use of the OpenStreetMap project. The rules have been modified as have the objectives (the oddest change is that creating a “monopoly” is nearly impossible) and the game will effectively close in January 2010. These changes however have created a stir – the system completed crashed the day Google launched. Google and Hasbro had to completely reset the game (after hardware and software updates were made) about a week later. Just look at the constant chatter about it on Twitter.

So what does this all mean? Settlers of Catan is certainly bringing new life back to the board game “platform.” While I have played it, it’s not my cup of tea. The game moves somewhat slow and is pretty confusing at first. The concept and execution are excellent though (I wish the game board didn’t fall apart so easily). Hasbro may have taken its game from the board to the internet, but this is nothing new. Monopoly exists on nearly all gaming platforms. The concept behind using other platforms is to peek interest and thereby increase the likelihood players will also use the board game platform.

I don’t really think it’s fair to say that Settlers will “beat” Monopoly. Board games will live on for quite a while. These games (and their reincarnations) are proof. I’m sure anyone out there would take a board game night over video games.

I was asked to help provide an online presence for Nancy Nickerson’s election run in Farmington, CT. As a City Council candidate, Nancy wanted to provide information about herself and her position while at the same time making it easy for the residents to contact her. Establishing an online presence has allowed her to reach an additional demographic.

The site is run off of WordPress.

Prior to using the WordPress system, I had designed a number of versions of kre8-ive.com to showcase my online portfolio. Initially launched as “studiophusion,” the website followed a storyline to portray the work. It slowly evolved into a more pictorial entity. The final version prior to this one actually went completely different, focusing on page layout based off a resume template I designed. Images were launched as Shadowbox features, keeping the website clean and very light.

Since relaunching kre8-ive.com using WordPress, I have rebranded the site to SPeterKane.com. The rebranded site which you are viewing now is the second iteration.

With the move to WordPress, I have returned to a pictorial focus while at the same time increasing content management.

This was a personal project of mine born out of the numerous issues I had with my 2002 Volkswagen Jetta. After horrid customer service experiences and then reading disparate stories about many other issues VW owners have faced, I decided that there needed to be a single location to keep these stories. Since the launch of the site, there have been a number of stories submitted and the traffic remains very constant.

The site has gone through three versions. The latest one incorporates utilizes the WordPress framework in order to create a better workflow as well as manage the growing content. The design of version 2 was mostly retained for this third version.

The Green Element was developed as a method to not only aggregate articles and links regarding sustainability, but to provide scale to the topic. The articles are broken down into categories dependent on the level of impact the sustainability initiative pertains. The concept is to help individuals better understand at what level action can be taken. This portal also helps to further promote the topic of sustainability.

The site uses WordPress for content management and is based off of the Futurosity Smashing Magazine design template.

We have a lot of books, a lot. From all the literary top books and writing guides to architecture and web design, there’s just too many for the simple built-in bookshelf and IKEA shelves we had in the condo. The second bedroom (the White Room) is actually used as more of a study. Rather than simply buying more IKEA shelves like we did for the lounge, we decided a large built-in solution would be best.

To maximize space, I incorporated a secretary’s desk within the design. This allowed us to get rid of the huge glass desk I had and opened up the floor space when the desk is not in use.

I designed the piece, had contractors install it, and then we did the painting.

This project was developed during my “Green Urban Design and Placemaking” graduate course at Tufts University. The course centered around the US Green Building Council’s LEED for Neighborhood Development Pilot Program. This certification program expands the LEED requirements to ensure that a project considers its impact on the great neighborhood, not just the plot of land being (re)developed. Each group in the class was assigned one project site within Somerville, MA.

There were no cost limitations to the project. The only real requirement was that the design incorporate LEED-ND guidelines. The groups were also offered the chance to add to their development site by including surrounding parcels, however, this would need to be fully reasoned.

In the end, the project finished with a design that would afford a Gold Certification. The proposed development optimized the location to the future Green Line T Station in Gilman Square as well as provided the opportunity to revitalize the neighborhood.

Current Conditions

• Four parcels
• 1.1 acres
• Old abandoned warehouse
• Gas station
• Three loading docks
• Parking lot
• Historically significant
• Unfavorable to pedestrians
• Abuts commuter rail line
• Close to City Hall & High School
• Poor structural state of building

Project Goals

• Restore Gilman Square
• Incorporate sustainable design
• Inspire and teach
• Foster community connections
• Optimize transit-oriented site
• Provided needed services

Design Principles

• Integrate site design with existing neighborhood fabric
• Enhance transit corridor
• Encourage travel by foot / support a car-free lifestyle
• Incorporate green space
• Develop an identifiable neighborhood center
• Provide a “third place” for the neighborhood
• Confirm neighborhood completeness
• Encourage mix of uses
• Create a model for sustainability

LEED-ND Elements

• Infill project site
• Located next to future Community Path (bike)
• Above-ground and garage bike parking
• Reduced heat island (underground garage)
• 10% of parking for carpool and Zipcar
• Widened sidewalks to 20 feet
• Store entrances set apart only 55 feet
• Large percentage of windows on first floor
• Shade from trees on sidewalk every 40 feet
• Floor to Area Ratio (FAR) is 3.1
• New park of 1/5 acre
• Trombe/thermal wall on south side
• Optimized natural daylighting via cross-atrium
• Energy-efficient lighting
• Electrochomic windows
• Rain barrels to retain 90% of stormwater
• PV-panel covered roof

The Bravern is a large mixed-use development in downtown Bellevue, Washington. Neoscape was hired by Schnitzer West to help the developer market the residential portion of the of the project. The site includes two ground levels of retail, two office towers, and two 30+ story residential towers. The residential towers also enjoy a large elevated terrace that connects the two and provides additional public space.

For this project, I coordinated the production of: twenty-eight 3D illustrations, four unit animations, and a large interactive sales tool.