This project was a competition proposal for one of the last remaining blocks within New Haven’s downtown. The site was created as part of urban renewal demolition of the 1960s, and remained vacant for over 40 years.
The approach to the design, done in collaboration with Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, is twofold: first, to make a landmark skyline presence in the city with a new residential tower of about 35 stories; and second, to re-weave the urban fabric that was destroyed in the 60s and reconnect two neighborhoods that suffered as a result.
The design solution links a series of public spaces on a pedestrian circulation path from the Wooster Square neighborhood to the green in the center of New Haven. The elevated plaza, populated with cafes and service retail, faces and internal court with the condominium tower and market rate and affordable apartments above. The second plaza at ground level feeds the theater and hotel functions of the site.
The project proposal incorporated sustainable strategies of ground source heat pumps, photovoltaic and co-generation electrical energy sourcing and rain/gray water collection and redistribution.