Blog Post 4

Blog Post #4 – “4th”

2.        Newark Ohio may be a quiet town for now, but in the near future this town plans to expand and grow. To attract new people and improve the city, Newark has many plans to both preserve its historic nature while also accommodating for the future. in spirit of Newark’s promising future, we (the Pineapple Planners) were tasked with creating something within the area given to us to work with to aid in the expansion and renovation of Newark. Our vision for this plot of land is to create a multi-use building comprised of both commercial and residential areas. This complex would be created to provide the people of downtown Newark a new place to shop and support local business’s, while also serving as a place to live for newcomers of Newark or natives that want a different type of living.

 

3.         The building that we came to agree on is simply named “4th, giving homage to the unique  stair step” design that stands four floors high. Behind the complex is a three story parking garage to serve as a place for employees of the shops, customers, and most importantly the residents of the apartments. The front of the buildings, setback is about 6 feet from the curb which allows for a decent sized gap between traffic and pedestrians that are walking around. On each side of the complex there is a 3ft gap on either side allowing for a little more room for walking on the side of the building, especially next to the McDonalds located to the front right face of the building if you were to be staring at it from the street. The overall footprint of the building is 192 ft. for the width and 188ft. for the length. For the first floor there are a total of six stores able to fit in our complex with even dimensions for all of them, 45ft by 62ft. the parking behind the structure also has relatively the same footprint as the apartment complex at 192 ft for the width and 170 ft in length. The building stands (at its highest point) at four stories with an underground basement level. The complex has two arms that extend out to the face of the complex creating a “U” shaped as pictured.

This design was incorporated so that the open space of the “U” can be used for a community center for the occupants of the apartments and is also an open area for Newark natives to relax after shopping around the first floor stores. this courtyard is beneficial to the new residents and the public because new people to Newark will need to branch out and meet people of Newark, the courtyard acts like a medium for people to meet people and create a relationship that will strengthen this new community.

4.      The design of this building was constructed with utilitarian views in mind. We wanted to create both a place that people would find interesting and want to experience such as the stores on the first floor, but we also wanted the residences to not feel like they are living in the middle of a shopping center. To compensate for the public space, residents have access to four roof gardens.

Each flat of the stair step design is used for each separate small garden accessed only by the residents of the apartments. These little gardens give the residences a part of the land that they can call their own, and not have to share the space with just anyone.

Another balance we wanted to achieve was class diversity. Each level (after the first level) offers different formats to accommodate to different styles of living. The second floor is mostly limited to smaller apartments for younger people who may not be spending a lot of time at home. The 3rd level is comprised of bigger apartments suited towards people with the need for more space. The top floor is for pent houses almost as they are suited with extra amenities such as number of bathrooms and overall area.

For the expansion of Newark, and for the people of the complex, we offer a 3 story parking garage located at the back of the apartment building. Again, the second floor is restricted to apartment owners as there is direct access from the parking garage to the residential living areas above the first floor. The first and second floors are for both residents and the public for access of the shops and events around Newark.

The Logistics of this sight also allows for this type of structure to be able to exist on this land. There is a sewage port located on the bottom right corner of the land to allow for proper sewage to come out of the building. As for getting clean water in, there is a water line directly in front of the complex. For safety there are three fire hydrants located at both ends of the arms of the apartment complex, as well as one located near the parking garage. The location of the building also is not prone to flooding as it is not in the flood zone.

 

Appendix: A couple ideas that we were thinking of approaching was an Park. The idea for a park came when we visited Newark and saw that their idea of a park is just a rectangle of clear, grassy land. We wanted to create a park that felt more like a park, but decided to end that pursuit because we thought that a multi-use building would be more beneficial to the city of Newark.

 

KEK Design’s Latest Project Unvieled

KEK Residentials

Newark is a small traffic friendly city that has been expanding rapidly in recent years. Currently, Newark’s city center is being restored, driving up property values and attracting a far wealthier demographic than those who have lived there in recent history. It is in this setting that KEK Designs has decided to unveil KEK Residentials. The overall goal with this project is to capitalize on the future influx of wealth and overall lack of upscale housing. KEK Residentials is a three floor gym-apartment complex hybrid, designed to offer a modern, upscale alternative for wealthy tenants.

 

Figure one demonstrates an aerial view of the plot that the new residency intends to cover. Figure two demonstrates the floor plans of the three story building with underground parking. Figure three is a rough sketch of the front of the building.

 

(Fig 1)

 

(Fig 2)

(Fig 3)

Proposal Justification:

After discussing a number of different ideas of varying seriousness (see appendix for a sample), KEK Designs decided on a hybrid gym and upscale apartment complex for a number of reasons. The principle reason for the gym part of the project is the lack of a nearby, upscale gym. There are a handful of gyms sprinkled liberally throughout Newark, but many would feel unfamiliar to a wealthy Columbus expatriate. Furthermore, income can be supplemented by selling gym memberships to the general public, with the intent of providing an alternative source of revenue to the owners to insulate the project from fluctuations in the housing market. The upscale apartment portion of the project was decided upon after the gym portion, though the gym is supposed to supplement the apartment complex, rather than the inverse. This portion of the project is a bit of a gamble, reliant on Newark doing well financially in the relative long term. While finding investors at this moment would be extremely difficult, KEK Designs is confident that funding could be secured within a few years, as long as Newark’s growth continues to accelerate at the same rate it is now.

The building is offset from the sidewalk by the green space located in front of the building and this is approximately 412/192 feet. This offset and the associated green space is designed such as to both draw the eye into the front of KEK Residentials while simultaneously being consistent with the setbacks of the surrounding buildings. KEK decided the green space would also be a beneficial touch to the apartments as it adds a backyard like feeling to the space and thus inspiring a notion of home.The green space contains three picnic tables for outdoor lunches and meditation. The gazebo outside of the residence has a stone path and serves as a great place for pictures or simply enjoying the view.   The first floor houses half of the gym, a small indoor track and basketball court (as currently proposed) as well as a lobby area, mailroom, and offices.The first floor is designed to be a common area, where the public gym goers mix with residents freely. One heavily debated feature of this floor is the indoor basketball court and track, with concerns about the resulting noise being the main complaint. In any case, much like the underground parking, the basketball court is an addition that may or may not be realized, depending on other external factors. The second floor encompasses the other half of the gym and features the first set of apartments. As currently planned, there are ten spacious apartments, each with private bathrooms and pseudo-balconies overlooking their respective sides. The remaining space is reserved for a common area, which serves as a buffer between the gym and apartments. The third floor offers penthouses and larger sized rooms to accommodate families while the second floor consists of smaller rooms for those who want a more solitary space.

The strengths of this proposal include an adaptable plan that allows the residence to adjust to threats,a potentially substantial return on investment,easy access to downtown Newark, and nearby access to necessary utilities. The weakness of the proposal are the proximity to other gyms and less appealing infrastructure of Newark’s downtown. However, these weakness may be overshadowed by the opportunities that the residence provides and may take part in. Opportunities include expansion to vacant lots that may be easy to acquire and the opportunity to attract millennials to its downtown creating a diverse generations for the city of Newark. Threats that may impede the implementation of KEK residentials are limited demand for high end apartments, assumption of Newark’s economic expansion, competition of smaller high quality lofts in the area, and the surrounding buildings not tailored for high end clients.

 

Appendix: Rejected Ideas

  • Shopping Complex
  • Public Park
  • Space Elevator
  • Parking Lot
  • Tannery and Rendering facility
  • Low cost housing apartments
  • Vertical Shooting Range
  • Low cost gym

 

 

Pinewood Park

Our plan for the vacant lot was to create a new park for the city of Newark called Pinewood Park.  The main function of this park is to develop the existing community and also bring the youth and young adults of Newark more involved in the community through the art scene.  The goal for this park is to not only be a traditional city park, but to also give the artists of Newark a place to work and display their art, as the park will have a focus on the local artists of Newark.  The park will display the works of local artists all throughout it.  The park will also feature numerous pine trees planted, including lining the alley way.  The alley will be kept in the park to divide it in half and a crosswalk will connect the two halves of the park.   The park will also include an amphitheater for local artists and musicians to perform in.  The park will also have two small food stands, one will sell ice cream and the other will sell natural food, like vegetarian burgers or organic food.  The park will also hold many various community events, for example during the cold months of an Ohio winter the park could be changed to a winter festival, so the park doesn’t sit empty for several months during the winter.  The defining feature of the park will be the Mural wall.  This wall will be a blank white wall where anyone is encouraged to spray paint, color, paint whatever they want on the wall.  It will be cleared every month and people can start all over again.

We selected a park for this lot because it fills a need in the city of Newark.  Downtown Newark needs more green space, and this park will provide it.  There is a park across the street, but its small and the land is going to waste.  This park will help make downtown Newark more scenic, and beautiful.  Downtown Newark has a gray , dark feeling to it and this park will help add character to the downtown area and improve it.

This park is also a good choice because it will attract a new youthful demographic into Newark, which will be great for the town as a whole. Newark is continuing to grow and this park will certainly help the community develop.  This park’s focus on local art in Newark will hopefully help develop Newark in a similar way that the Short North developed in Columbus.  The inclusion of an amphitheater in this park will also open up the possibilities of events, like concerts or other shows to take place, which would bring more business to the downtown area.

We have decide to keep the ally way in the middle of the park to prevent future traffic in major sections of the city . the ally runs parallel from the two side roads on the parcel and it would make it more convenient for park access or possible parking.  The ally would have a boulevard feel to it with pine trees on either side of the road to keep people more immersed in the park.  A park would be a good choice with the alley way, because the park can still function with the alley way in tact.  Putting a building here would probably require removing the alley and disrupting traffic.

This plot of land also works really well for a park.  This plot of land is right by two major roads and is in the heart of downtown Newark, so the park will be walking distance for a lot of people and the park is in walking distance from other businesses in Newark, like coffee shops and restaurants.  Being by two major roads in Newark will also allow people who drive by to notice the park and stop by. The park would also not need to have much additional parking, because there is already a lot of parking around the park.  The fact that the park doesn’t need to have a huge parking lot is very nice, because it allows for more green space.  The park has all the basic utilities needed, which will make the inclusion of a public restroom, drinking fountains, and things of that nature easy to create.  One thing to note is when the park is first developed it won’t match with it’s surroundings, but the goal of this park is to develop Downtown Newark so the park may be out of place at first, but hopefully in the near future it wouldn’t be so out of place.

Finally the park is a good choice for what it’ll bring to the community.  The park will include a few businesses, but making a profit isn’t necessarily the primary function.  The park really has a focus on bringing the community together, by hopefully hosting many community events and also the inclusion of the mural wall will hopefully help build a sense of community.  The park by bringing in the local artists to participate in the goings on of the park will also hopefully help develop the community.  This park is building on the purpose of the community garden in Newark which happens to be just across the street from this plot of land.

 

The other alternative our group considered for the plot of land was to instead make an organic grocery store, like a Whole Foods.  This organic grocery store would have captured a similar demographic to the park, hopefully bringing in 18-28 year olds to Newark.  This organic grocery store would have also attracted new businesses to the downtown area.  The grocery store would also give the people of Newark an alternative grocery store to go shop at, since the traffic getting to the current grocery stores is a mess.