I am building this post primarily from the Bridge District design guideline documents that attempt to clarify the planners vision for everything from public art, to rooftop design. What's clear in the document is that the West Sacramento Planners have done their homework resulting in a thorough design framework that will eventually lead to a beautiful development. I used the word eventually on purpose, here's why: much of what the planners envision will take decades to implement - especially in this down economy. So I looked at these images with the knowledge that when we first visit this development as businesses and restaurants begin showing up, the greenery won't be filled in as depicted, and the goal of densely packed buildings leading to a seamless line of active storefronts won't be realized for many years.
Bridge District mission statement:
“Build an economically viable neighborhood that is architecturally distinctive, environmentally responsible and celebrates the proximity to the river.”
An early artist rendition of the project:
(The Bridge District is directly across the river from the Docks Masterplan that the City of Sacramento is working on)
This is the actual street design and street names:
Specific Design Goals:
Beautify—Design with a richness of detail and quality that expresses pride and permanence. Create buildings that are attractive as well as functional.
Respect the Environment—Architecture in the Bridge District should respect the environment on a local, regional and global level. Respecting the local and regional environment means embracing the Sacramento River and celebrating the river’s role in the natural and human history of the area, and designing with an awareness of West Sacramento ’s climate. Respecting the global environment means designing buildings that reduce energy consumption and lessen dependence on automobiles.
Innovate and Respond—Develop innovative design responses and flexible regulations that incorporate advances in technology and respect a shifting economic, social, and regulatory environment.
Diversify Designs—Develop guidelines that allow for a broad and progressive range of architectural design solutions that contribute to a visually appealing streetscape and skyline. Build a unique neighborhood with character through individual expression, while respecting the emerging community context.
Grow a Great Urban Neighborhood—New buildings should respect the urban scale and development intensity of the district. Designs should contribute to a high quality of life and a feeling of safety, livability, and community.
Establish Connections—Architecture in the Bridge District should reemphasize the visual and physical paths that connect people to each other, the Sacramento River , and to the District’s varied uses. Visual and physical linkage of the balance of the district to the Riverfront is accomplished through the establishment of Riverfront view streets in Volume 2.
A few of the re-occurring themes I saw in the design guidelines:
*Walkability
*Extensive Urban Forestry
*Abundance of parks
*Green - energy efficient
*Aesthetics - both in public art installments as well as architecture
Design elements relating to Walkability:
The entire development has a people centric focus with wider than average sidewalk spaces and plenty of room for sidewalk dining. This particular image is from a fairly central street that offers pedestrians extra space though other streets still offer wider than average sidewalk space.
Where sidewalks are too narrow for shade trees, alternate shade structures should be provided. This aids in cooling pedestrians as well as helping to cut direct sunlight into buildings.
Again, wide Sidewalks:
Extensive Urban Forestry:
In addition to Urban Forestry, you can also see another design goal of extensive public seating options. The development pictured here uses solid cement sections built into the landscape architecture to provide public seating.
Abundance of Parks:
Green:
Permeable paving blocks help to reduce water runoff into city drains - reduces chances of flooding.
The City is suggesting many green design elements that will help to reduce energy consumption, many are standard in today's building industry though I don't think I've seen this one before:
Adding earth and greenery to the top of a building helps reduce absorbed heating while also providing a more appealing view for the residents of taller structures. I think it's a fairly interesting solution.
Aesthetics:
Water features:
Public Art:
Unique Landscape Architecture:
A long section in the document focused on architectural elements. In this example, they were showing how varied building uses could be distinguished with floor level retail uses differentiated from the residential or office spaces above by using altering building material or unique design elements. Additionally, the project design should have added artistic elements meant to distinguish one building from the next in a way that also promotes the sense of permanence and a strong identity.
While there are many more photos from the design guidelines meant to clarify the planners vision, I think this is enough to give a general picture of what the Bridge District could end up looking like once built out. For West Sacramento, this project holds the promise of really converting a desperately underused space of land into an attractive waterfront destination while also helping to bring the city out of the shadow of it's bigger sibling to the East. When you picture this development with restaurants and bars anchored by the the River Cats stadium, all adjacent to the Sacramento waterfront, this could turn out to be "the place to be" on a warm summer evening.
Project Related Websites:
Please feel free to post any questions or comments below
