How to ensure the vitality of a large new district under construction on 235 acres of post-industrial waterfront peninsula in central South Baltimore.  This is the fundamental question underpinning an intense and ongoing urban design study undertaken by AtelierTek Architects, in collaboration with the ambitious, visionary development team of MAG Partners, MacFarlane Partners and Sagamore Ventures. 

We started with research of the site’s maritime history, investigation of the social and ecological contexts, and studies of relevant sites near and far, old and new.  We looked at what is currently underway, proposed tactical interventions, and reimagined future phases.  Our design thinking prioritizes public spaces and accessibility, improves legibility and connectivity, refines scale and detail, fosters specificity of place and design, raises the environmental bar, generates momentum, and fosters positive social and economic impact.  The challenge and opportunity here is urban in scale, but creative, forward-thinking architecture facilitates and reinforces the overall mission. 

The clear-eyed, holistic approach and systemic rethinking uncovers and illustrates possibilities to create a place that will be truly regenerative and transformative, for the adjacent communities, Baltimore, and beyond.

Ground plane experience is essential. This zone must belong to the public, irrespective of property lines. Programmatic offerings, visual sightlines and engagement, and physical interconnections and access must warmly welcome visitors.  Design fosters appropriately dense urbanity, acknowledges and builds on history without nostalgia, and reinforces dynamism and specificity of the site.

Piazzas and esplanades of appropriate scale, materiality, detail, visibility, and connectivity ensure civic ambitions of the project, zones ripe for activities and expressions of all kinds. Integrated infrastructure facilitates creative and flexible use of the public realm. Public spaces are a mix of enclosed, semi-enclosed, and fully open, scaled and spaced to stimulate pedestrian exploration and enjoyment of the neighborhood by locals and visitors alike.  Strategic curation and clustering of public and some commercial functions must cater to diverse socio-economic profiles, informed by case study research and more importantly the community engagement process. 

Organized temporary activation of many flavors will increasingly draw people to the site, generating excitement and sense of place, even before completion of construction.  Architecture facilitates and formalizes flexible activation, without fossilizing.  Scale, materiality, and program gain specificity.  Creative activity brings urban space to life; architectural infrastructure must foster dynamic activation.

Views of the reimagined waterfront highlight openness, continuity, cross-pollination.  Orientation towards the water is not just passive and visual, it is active and engaged.  The hard edge along the water can facilitate an active urbanity, building off the maritime heritage of the site.  Color, material, program, scale and perspective encourage visitors to linger, and beckon pedestrians ever onward.  Fine tuning of all these elements fosters a dynamic waterfront at the heart of the district. 

Phasing is critical on a project of this scale and duration. Each phase needs to be independently cohesive, creating a microcosmic sense of place, so that residents and visitors do not feel they are in a permanent construction site. Tactical sequencing and scale are critical to build momentum for the development. 

Iterative 3D massing studies help optimize the density and mix of uses, ensuring value and opportunity is maximized, find creative solutions to stitch together the urban fabric with surrounding communities, visualize possibilities in real-time, and coordinate with engineers and stakeholders.

The masterplan expresses an intentionality, yet is fundamentally nimble, responsive, evolving.