Pittsburgh is bracing itself for what The Architect’s Newspaper calls “BIG news”: Private developers have hired the hot Danish firm, led by Bjarke Ingels, along with Atelier Ten and West 8 Landscape Architects, to create a master plan for 28 acres of Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District.
The developers, McCormack Baron Salazar and hockey team Pittsburgh Penguins, plan to redevelop public space around the Civic Arena and build “dialogue with the city’s vertiginous topography to create bike and pedestrian paths,” the Architect’s Newspaper reports.
“The paths are turned and twisted to always find a gentle sloping path leading pedestrians and bicyclists comfortably up and down the hillside,” said Bjarke Ingels in a statement. “The resulting urban fabric combines a green network of effortless circulation with a quirky character reminiscent of a historical downtown. Topography and accessibility merging to create a unique new part of Pittsburgh.”
Dezeen reports that for the public realm, West 8 has “proposed granite outcroppings that take their cue from the region's mountainous landscape.”
"The site, with its slopes and views, is perfectly suited for bringing an experience of the native landscape to this urban condition," Jamie Maslyn, a Partner at West 8, told Dezeen.
A cost of around $500 million is expected for the project’s execution. The plan includes 1.2 million sf dedicated to residential construction, as well as 1.25 million sf for retail and commercial space. Developers expect to break ground in 2016.
“The master plan for the Lower Hill District is created by supplementing the existing street grid with a new network of parks and paths shaped to optimize the sloping hill side for human accessibility for all generations,” Ingels said in a statement.
Atelier Ten’s environmental consultants are developing sustainable and efficient systems for the master plan, including guidelines that encourage district heating and cooling, as well as stormwater retention for on-site irrigation.
Related Stories
Cultural Facilities | Jun 10, 2022
After 10 Years, Taiwan’s new Taipei Music Center Reaches the Finish Line
RUR Architecture has finished the Taipei Music Center (TMC), turning a 22-acre (9-hectare) site into a new urban arts district.
Projects | Mar 24, 2022
A Hollywood home for creatives
A Hollywood development will serve as a collaborative center for artists, students, and those in the entertainment industry.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 10, 2022
A ‘reimagined’ David Geffen Hall in New York is on track to open this fall
Its half-billion-dollar reconstruction is positioning this performance space as an integral key to luring people to the city again.
Performing Arts Centers | Mar 8, 2022
Cincinnati Ballet’s new center embodies the idea that dance is for everyone
Cincinnati Ballet had become a victim of its own success, according to company president and CEO Scott Altman. “We were bursting at the seams in our old building. We had simply outgrown the facility,” Altman told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
University Buildings | Feb 18, 2022
On-campus performing arts centers and museums can be talent magnets for universities
Cultural facilities are changing the way prospective students and parents view higher education campuses.
Resiliency | Feb 15, 2022
Design strategies for resilient buildings
LEO A DALY's National Director of Engineering Kim Cowman takes a building-level look at resilient design.
Cultural Facilities | Jan 27, 2022
Growth in content providers creates new demand for soundstage facilities
Relativity Architects' Partner Tima Bell discusses how the explosion in content providers has outpaced the availability of TV and film production soundstages in North America and Europe.
Cultural Facilities | Jan 18, 2022
A building in Times Square aspires to be a marketing and arts tool
The 580-ft TSX Broadway will have several LED signs on its exterior, and host an existing 27,000-sf theater that was hoisted 30 ft above street level.
Cultural Facilities | Dec 16, 2021
Museums and other cultural spaces reconsider how to serve their communities
Efforts to raise capital for cultural buildings became necessary during the COVID-19 health crisis.
Giants 400 | Nov 19, 2021
2021 Cultural Facilities Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. cultural facilities sector
Gensler, AECOM, Buro Happold, and Arup top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest cultural facilities sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2021 Giants 400 Report.