| TP30 Nouvelle at Natick: Creating a Livable Community at the Mall HSW 05/14/2008, 12:00 PM - 4:30 PM Learning Units: 3.00-Bus and Walking Tour Training Units: 1.00-Training Area 17 (Planning) One of the largest developments that an architect can tackle, in terms of area, is a regional mall. Stores, restaurants, and parking have been the target program for decades. New urbanism, smart growth, and maturity have all started to point to mixed-use developments as the preferred program for almost any site. How do smart growth tenets get applied to these traditionally one-minded projects? We will explore the challenges associated with mixing in residential living into an otherwise nonresidential community. We will analyze and identify the richness that can be gained by adding residential to the mall program and the pitfalls to avoid. This tour will travel to one of Greater Boston's newest and most innovative residences, Nouvelle at Natick, the 215-unit condominium building adjacent to the newly reinvented Natick mall, the Natick Collection. Stroll through this city within suburbia, where high-end retail and luxury condominiums, parking, and a 1.5-acre rooftop garden offer a new lifestyle option to potential residents. Envisioned by General Growth Properties, a nationwide operator of urban and suburban retail across the United States, as a vibrant, secure, 18-hour environment, Nouvelle at Natick offers a place to live, work, shop, and play with direct access to the mall's shops, walking concourse, and restaurants. From the bright super-graphic flowers adorning acrylic panels lighting the garage façade to gently curving building forms, Nouvelle at Natick combines joy and inspiration derived from the landscape of the suburbs it inhabits. This tour of Nouvelle at Natick will end at the main concourse of the mall. Architects from ADD Inc. will guide us on this tour of the new suburb. Lunch is included. Learning Objectives:
Core Discipline: Design |