Whit East, The Whit Patio
Eugene neighborhoods such the Whiteaker and downtown are reemerging as places of rich urban street life. Restaurants, bars and beer breweries define the qualities of these spaces, often activated at lunch and night time. Eugene is also becoming a location for innovative information technology startups and design oriented maker spaces.
The historic Skinner’s Butte neighborhood bound by Skinner’s Butte and the Ferry Street Bridge to the west and east, and the Williamette River and Waterfront District to the north and south, is zoned Special Use Whiteaker. This provides a pervious planning cue. The neighborhood was one of the first locations of downtown Eugene. Residential uses in the east make way for for industrial and commercial uses to the west.
This western edge of the neighborhood also provides an important arrival gateway into downtown Eugene and entry for the future Waterfront District.
This project looks to use the relocation of the unique restaurant Mame, currently located along Blair Avenue in the Whiteaker, as an anchor for a mixed-use development of restaurant, bar, office, maker and residents. A sheltering garden environment will provide a public / private central space for people to meet and interact in an enclosed micro ecology of local ecology. An agglomeration or cluster of innovative designers will at times mix during events and outdoor activities with neighborhood residents and other people visiting Eugene. This captured natural environment will be a catalyst for local culture and identity.
Objectives have emerged:
1) Whiteaker East spirit
2) Patrimonio or cultural identity through built fabric
3) Entrepreneurial (maker) Identity
Strategies are identified:
A) Floating Patrimonio
B) Thick Skin.
Architect: Speranza Architecture + Urban Design; Philip Speranza, Principal; Ryan Kiesler, Matthew Nywiede, Julia Frost, Taylor Baek
WHIT EAST Bungalow Urban Design Study
Whit East, The Whit Patio
Eugene neighborhoods such the Whiteaker and downtown are reemerging as places of rich urban street life. Restaurants, bars and beer breweries define the qualities of these spaces, often activated at lunch and night time. Eugene is also becoming a location for innovative information technology startups and design oriented maker spaces.
The historic Skinner’s Butte neighborhood bound by Skinner’s Butte and the Ferry Street Bridge to the west and east, and the Williamette River and Waterfront District to the north and south, is zoned Special Use Whiteaker. This provides a pervious planning cue. The neighborhood was one of the first locations of downtown Eugene. Residential uses in the east make way for for industrial and commercial uses to the west.
This western edge of the neighborhood also provides an important arrival gateway into downtown Eugene and entry for the future Waterfront District.
This project looks to use the relocation of the unique restaurant Mame, currently located along Blair Avenue in the Whiteaker, as an anchor for a mixed-use development of restaurant, bar, office, maker and residents. A sheltering garden environment will provide a public / private central space for people to meet and interact in an enclosed micro ecology of local ecology. An agglomeration or cluster of innovative designers will at times mix during events and outdoor activities with neighborhood residents and other people visiting Eugene. This captured natural environment will be a catalyst for local culture and identity.
Objectives have emerged:
1) Whiteaker East spirit
2) Patrimonio or cultural identity through built fabric
3) Entrepreneurial (maker) Identity
Strategies are identified:
A) Floating Patrimonio
B) Thick Skin.
Architect: Speranza Architecture + Urban Design; Philip Speranza, Principal; Ryan Kiesler, Matthew Nywiede, Julia Frost, Taylor Baek