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Dimensional Place (Common Market South End site)


Spartan

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  • 2 weeks later...
2 hours ago, Spartan said:

The "plaza" on the corner is absolute garbage. It's the same terrible design as they did on College Street by Panera. I will never understand why we continue to fail at plazas in Charlotte. It's not that hard.

Curious layman here--can you elaborate on why this is a bad plaza and / or what makes a good plaza?

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23 minutes ago, Vitamin_N said:

Curious layman here--can you elaborate on why this is a bad plaza and / or what makes a good plaza?

Well, I'm sure there are dissertations about this topic... and its admittedly somewhat subjective and it highly depends on context. What works for one space won't work for all spaces. However, in general there should be a good amount of open space (hardscape) and while planters are fine, their location needs to be well thought out. Ideally, you would set up seating along the edge of planters so people will have a place to sit, rather than randomly throw benches out there. Water features are a huge plus, and shade trees are nice when space allows for them.

The DFA corner plaza sets up a separate space for people walking past on Camden, and they have a constrained sidewalk space - sure its 8ft wide, but it has curbed planters on either side of it, so people are going to invariably start walking in the planter beds. Then there's a step down - which possibly couldn't have been avoided, so the space is just broken up in to multiple useless parts.

This is not an amazing spot to be in the first place, so it's not like I think people will want to hang out here. I think in this case it should be set up to allow people in groups to walk through the space. It's a very small space so you don't need much to make it work right. I think if it had just been one solid hardscape area with some large planters or trees in grates and a place to put an art it would have been fine. Think BofA Plaza (the building) and their corner of The Square (the one with the disco wheel). Or the Bechtler. 

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1 hour ago, Vitamin_N said:

Curious layman here--can you elaborate on why this is a bad plaza and / or what makes a good plaza?

To my mind (and I am a layman as well), the best plazas either serve as a "spectacle" in themselves (think of the famous plazas in Europe like Piazza Navona or the Plaza Mayor) or they provide ample space for public use. This is probably more of a "learning from other places" thread post, though....

Edit: posted over there.

Edited by asthasr
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3 hours ago, Spartan said:

 

Well, I'm sure there are dissertations about this topic... and its admittedly somewhat subjective and it highly depends on context. What works for one space won't work for all spaces. However, in general there should be a good amount of open space (hardscape) and while planters are fine, their location needs to be well thought out. Ideally, you would set up seating along the edge of planters so people will have a place to sit, rather than randomly throw benches out there. Water features are a huge plus, and shade trees are nice when space allows for them.

The DFA corner plaza sets up a separate space for people walking past on Camden, and they have a constrained sidewalk space - sure its 8ft wide, but it has curbed planters on either side of it, so people are going to invariably start walking in the planter beds. Then there's a step down - which possibly couldn't have been avoided, so the space is just broken up in to multiple useless parts.

This is not an amazing spot to be in the first place, so it's not like I think people will want to hang out here. I think in this case it should be set up to allow people in groups to walk through the space. It's a very small space so you don't need much to make it work right. I think if it had just been one solid hardscape area with some large planters or trees in grates and a place to put an art it would have been fine. Think BofA Plaza (the building) and their corner of The Square (the one with the disco wheel). Or the Bechtler. 

So can we place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the City of Charlotte and its questionable zoning/planning ordinances (or lack thereof)? After all, we are the city that allows developers of podium apartments with little to no retail, or simply a blank wall, at street level. I kinda think we get what we deserve. No balls to change the codes = no cool stuff. 

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2 hours ago, Miesian Corners said:

So can we place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the City of Charlotte and its questionable zoning/planning ordinances (or lack thereof)? After all, we are the city that allows developers of podium apartments with little to no retail, or simply a blank wall, at street level. I kinda think we get what we deserve. No balls to change the codes = no cool stuff. 

Partially, yes. But developers aren't off the hook either. If/when the city regulates it, they'll just complain about additional regulations.

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3 hours ago, Miesian Corners said:

So can we place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the City of Charlotte and its questionable zoning/planning ordinances (or lack thereof)? After all, we are the city that allows developers of podium apartments with little to no retail, or simply a blank wall, at street level. I kinda think we get what we deserve. No balls to change the codes = no cool stuff. 

We all(-ish) fell for thinking the plaza space would be well done. This is classic office building construction in my view

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