Urban Collage

Eco-Charrettes

John Skach — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:38:51 +0000

The Northeast may have snow, but January and February have been a flurry of activity as Urban Collage prepared for and conducted three “eco-charrettes” across the Southeast. A key element in several HUD competitive grants awarded last year as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, these green workshops are part of a larger initiative to substantially improve the energy and environmental efficiency of the nation’s public housing stock. Urban Collage worked with the housing authorities of Little Rock (AR), Wilson (NC) and Chesapeake (VA) and their design and development teams to assemble a broad spectrum of technical professionals, community and resident stakeholders, and local sustainability advocates to engage in roundtable dialogues on site and water ecology, energy efficiency, and green materials. The results of each eco-charrette will being synthesized into a Green Development Plan that provides a sustainability template for the project as it moves forward.

For a sample of the Wilson workshop, click HERE.

Cooperation: A Tool for Design

Louis Johnson — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:23:18 +0000

Urban Collage believes that a multitude of perspectives, professional or otherwise and built from personal experience, is what it takes to create successful plans and designs. This was never more obvious than in a recent studio in Shanghai, China that included 15 Georgia Tech students (one Collager) and 14 students from Shanghai’s Tongji University. It would seem at first glance that design backgrounds, both professional and educational, could vary widely between the Chinese students and Americans, let alone that one group’s first language is Mandarin, a far cry from understandable to 14 of the 15 American students. So, how could it be that these two groups could cooperate and learn from one another and eventually collaborate on very intriguing conceptual design ideas? The reason this is possible, as it became apparent, is that the group all had the same underlying goals; to create a vibrant plan that improved quality of life within the existing urban core of Shanghai. Using that as the foundation to start communication between the two groups was sufficient. Of course it helped that 90% of the Chinese students spoke English very well, but it was also possible to utilize both group’s backgrounds, that were in fact very different, the Chinese students most of whom have studied in urban planning (a more technical and physical version of what is considered planning in most American schools) while the American students had backgrounds from architecture to environmental planning. It ended up being the very differences between the groups that gave the final products their holistic vision, utilizing the technical aspects of some students and the creative/conceptual aspects of others to generate a final collaborative product that may have otherwise not been achieved.

Much like the experience of the Chinese and American students in Shanghai, the practice of urban design involves people from many different backgrounds and experience. Given a common underlying goal to improve quality of life and leave things better than they were found, these relationships between planners, architects, engineers, residents, public officials and other stakeholders can be understood in a positive light- that the resultant community is richer for the varied perspectives that it embodies.

Wilson Goes Green

Stanford Harvey — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:09:23 +0000

Urban Collage will facilitate an “eco-charrette” for the Wilson (NC) Housing Authority on February 5 and 6. The public process will explore contemporary green building ideas and products and plan for a $7 million grant WHA recently received for work at its Forrest Homes community.

More information can be found here

UC Client honored with an award from the U.S. Green Building Council

Stanford Harvey — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:59:17 +0000

The Columbia (SC) Housing Authority was recently awarded the 2009 Affordable Housing Developer of the Year from the U.S. Green Building Council for their work at Rosewood Hills. Urban Collage assisted CHA in preparing the community-based master development plan, HOPE VI application and design guidelines for this environmentally-conscious development near the University of South Carolina.

More information can be found here

Red Mile Receives Rezoning Approval

Stanford Harvey — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:27:18 +0000

After an intensive effort led by Urban Collage over the past year, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council approved rezoning of 68 acres at the Red Mile harness racetrack on January 14, 2010. The rezoning to Mixed Use Entertainment was the result of a community-based process instigated by the property owners and the LFUCG Division of Planning that included the creation of a refined mixed use zoning classification for the city.

UC Client Awarded Federal NSP Funds

John Skach — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:22:41 +0000

The Little Rock Housing Authority and the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock were recently awarded $15M in federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funds to address inner-city housing foreclosures and other blighting factors related to the economic crisis. As part of the grant application team, Urban Collage surveyed and analyzed existing housing in eleven census tracts containing over 800 housing units. The work included identification of priority areas and recommendations on institutional partnerships and public investments to support the stabilization, particularly in the neighborhoods surrounding Little Rock’s civil rights landmarks like Central High School and the Daisy Bates House.

Campus Housing Options Expand in WKU

Stanford Harvey — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:07:50 +0000

Urban Collage and RossTarrant Architects have recently completed schematic designs for new non-traditional housing at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. The site and building design helps set a new standard for the gateway between WKU and downtown Bowling Green.

More information can be found here

HUD Application Successes for Urban Collage Clients

John Skach — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:19:09 +0000

Urban Collage contributed to winning over $4 million in grants for the housing authorities of Little Rock (AR) and Rome (GA) under the Capital Fund Recovery Competition program. Urban Collage also collaborated with the Little Rock Housing Authority, the City of Little Rock, and other affordable housing professionals to complete a comprehensive revitalization program for several inner-city neighborhoods under the ARRA Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Other successes for Urban Collage clients include a total of $25.8 million for the Housing Authorities of Columbia (SC), Wilson (NC), Fayetteville (NC) Metro, and Savannah (GA).

Barbara Asher Square Revitalization Moving Forward

Stanford Harvey — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:20:20 +0000

In late 2007, Associate Matt Cherry performed some pro-bono work for the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association, creating design concepts to revitalize Barbara Asher Square (aka Broad Street Plaza). The process engaged both city officials and the Five Points Task force in addressing this problem area in Downtown Atlanta, while making headlines in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The New York Times. It has now been recently announced that Central Atlanta Progress has secured federal stimulus funds to transform the area with various lighting, paver, planter and landscaping upgrades.

Plans for Historic Downtown Garner Begin to Take Shape

Eric Bosman — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:06:13 +0000

The Town of Garner, NC recently completed a series of public meetings to discuss revitalization strategies for their historic Downtown. Urban Collage has been leading a team working with the town to balance preservation of the Town’s historic Main Street with plans for new Town Center development.

For more information view the articles: “Revitalization plan could mean big changes for downtown”, “Vision calls for major development in Garner”, “A chance to remake downtown” and “Garner’s core could live again”