Comments on Studio Plaza shows how "too big" isn't always about height - Greater Greater Washington

Comment by r5DG

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 17:32:33 EDT

I'm in favor of the development but I agree the Ga Ave facade needs more articulation, reduced scale and break the elevation into three masses. This could be easier said than done since the lot is fairly narrow and of course the developers would like to maximize the project. I would be in favor of less color change in the masonry and paneling. There is too much of this alternating color in material in DTSS. Less is more.

Comment by Redline SOS

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 10:46:22 EDT

Dan, can you do a piece on workforce housing? This is the first I've heard of it and it needs more visibility.

Comment by Cavan

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 10:34:46 EDT

I'm glad that we're getting more housing in Silver Spring. Our businesses could use a larger customer base and we need to do something to fill in the dead zones created by all the parking lots behind the Georgia Avenue storefronts. In the bigger picture, we simply need more housing supply as demand is seemingly insatiable around Metro stations.

Dan has a good point that the building could be more architecturally pleasing. While the current proposal won't ruin Silver Spring or anything, there are clearly better things that can be done without increasing the cost.

Comment by Thayer-D

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 09:03:06 EDT

Bethesda lane would be lovely, but look at the difference in height of the two projects. It's about the street section, which at the Studio Plaza would make the Bethesda Lane project feel like a strip mall at 5-6 stories. At 11 stories and a narrower street, it's all the more reason to break up the mass. Also, the Bethesda Lane archtiecture has a lot of articulation with scalable details from traditional architecture, all the easier to "feel" comfertable while walking there.

Comment by Richard Layman

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 05:57:55 EDT

oh and the issue with "too big" isn't mostly about height, although in places like DC or Portland, with very strict height limits, I guess it is.

I argue, as does your post, that it's mostly about design: urban design, massing, treatment of the ground floor, the way the building connects to and extends the vitality of the street, verve, etc.

Comment by Richard Layman

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 05:55:00 EDT

arcades are another treatment, and Melbourne's laneways, although there can be issues of people not wanting to live above such places if they are open beyond normal store hours.

why did you not consider the road/alley, lined with stores in that Bethesda Row housing section that abuts Arlington Road?

Yes, it's much wider, but it's still somewhat comparable. I guess it's called Bethesda Lane.

- http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/02162011/nortnew205535_32548.php

- http://www.koitzgroup.com/blog/another-success-in-downtown-bethesda.html

Comment by Ben Ross

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 19:05:49 EDT

kk - Montgomery County has a policy that says all blocks must be at least 600 feet long. This doesn't come from the Planning Board, but from the county Department of Transportation. The aim is to prevent traffic from backing up past an intersection. Maybe the police could just enforce the law against "blocking the box" -- it is a violation that drivers seem to commit with impunity here.

Comment by Matt C

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 17:11:06 EDT

@Dan -- Euclid Mews in Adams Morgan is my favorite alley in DC, although it isn't accessible and doesn't actually connect streets. A few stairs are just enough to keep vehicular traffic and loiterers out.

Cady's Alley and the Georgetown stretches of the canal are also good examples.

San Francisco also has some really nice connector alleys (especially its famous stairways).

Comment by kk`

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 15:42:05 EDT

Perhaps there should be a maximum street length so that buildings can not be so long. There are many street long buildings, as well as blocks of streets that are just too damn long.

Comment by dan reed!

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:30:06 EDT

@Matt

I agree that Union Row isn't perfect. Do you have a better precedent in mind? I was thinking of Cady's Alley myself, though the buildings are much smaller than what's proposed here.

Comment by Matt C

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 14:21:31 EDT

The Union Row alley has never been very inviting, it's basically a purely functional design like you might see at a century-old factory.

It always seems dead (few pedestrians, even though it's the main entrance to the building?), has little greenery, and is in shadow almost all of the time.

While I agree the Studio Plaza plan looks worse, higher standards please.

Comment by Bradley Heard

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:30:31 EDT

Nice post - and I definitely agree with you. However, as a Prince George's resident, I can't help being a tad envious of this development. I'd gladly look forward to the time when these are the types of TOD issues that our county faces at its Metro stations!

Comment by dan reed!

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:30:15 EDT

@Bossi

That's a good point, and I actually hadn't thought about Ellsworth Drive. It works well, though the architecture isn't great. That said, it's a lot shorter than the Studio Plaza proposal, and it's generally surrounded by other large-scale buildings, whereas Studio Plaza is directly behind the storefronts on Georgia Avenue.

Like I said, the height isn't so much an issue as exterior variation and how the building's mass is manipulated. And even if one side of the building is a service alley, it's still surrounded by 2- and 3-story buildings and will be for a while, meaning it'll be visible for blocks and blocks. Thus, it might as well be treated with care.

Comment by Thayer-D

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:08:57 EDT

I agree that this building misses the mark. Ecpecially unfortunate considering the large nimby population in Silver Spring that can justifyably rail against this proposal. Nothing wrong with the density, and considering it's by-right, best not to spend ammunition fighting something that you can't win. But that's what the nimby's will do if history is a guide. While the gargantuan scale and singular archtiectural style are something we might be able to do something about the way Dan's pointed out, my guess is we'll have another several debates about the height and parking, both of which are dictated by law.

Comment by Bossi

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:05:42 EDT

Other buildings in DTSS provide an even greater span. Ellsworth, for example, has over 500' of continuous structure facing to a very pedestrian-oriented street, whereas Studio Plaza's main length faces into a service alley.

It seems the concern isn't so much with the size of the building but with, as was noted, the lack of exterior aesthetic variation?

Also worth thinking about is how critical is it to have such variation facing a service alley as opposed to focusing on the plaza or along Mayors Promenade -- or is there an argument to be had for aesthetic design even on its utility side?