THE NORTH LAMAR PLATFORM

MIXED-USE RESIDENTIAL AND URBAN STRATEGY

Design IV Spring 2013 :: Nichole Wiedemann (1 Semester)

North Lamar is one of Austin’s primary North-South transportation corridors and unfortunately one of Austin’s greatest eyesores. The majority of the developments along this stretch are auto shops and parking lots; it is currently an area unsympathetic to pedestrians and bikers.

The North Lamar Platform is a strategy intended to unify Lamar in its  entirety with a pedestrian friendly, elevated, and impervious sidewalk. The impervious nature of the Platform is crucial to the strategy’s implementation, as it allows for the growth of greenery along the road, uplighting at night, and strategic hiding of mechanical equipment such as drainage pipes and electrical boxes.

The residential project is sited specifically at 51st and Lamar, situated right at the southernmost point of the North Lamar stretch. Intervention began with an objective to invite pedestrians further onto the site, as opposed to the current conditions that block entrance (a gas station).  The residential complex units are arranged by a pattern, regularized by a circulation system.  This circulation system serves as an extension of the Platform urban strategy.