Developed by Bouygues Immobilier and recognized as one of the largest sustainable developments in the Paris region, the building occupies a 1.5-hectare (3.7-acre) landscaped site and has been awarded the High Environmental Quality (HEQ) label—the newest official certification from the Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment, a French body focused on improving construction through science and technology. The project was 95 percent leased before completion; 39,500 square meters (425,174 sq. ft.) of the office space is occupied by the European and French headquarters of Microsoft, and 5,500 square meters (59,202 sq. ft.) by Lundbeck pharmaceutical laboratories.
Dickens Heath Village Centre is a purpose-built mixed-use village in the heart of the Solihull countryside that, at completion, will comprise approximately 500 luxury apartments and townhouses, 15,000 square meters (161,459 sq. ft.) of commercial space, a library, a medical center, and a nature reserve. Parkridge Holdings is developing the planned community on greenbelt land previously owned by the local authority. Although a relatively small development, the project provides the missing piece in the jigsaw of an urban extension—it introduces an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable heart to a new community that is urban rather than suburban but still sensitive to its rural setting.
The largest and most comprehensive housing development for the homeless in Orange County, the Village of Hope is located on a five-acre (two-hectare) site of the former Tustin Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, California. A truly comprehensive facility, the shelter provides housing for 192 homeless men, women, and children and includes child care, health, job-training, and educational services on a single site. The product of a partnership between two nonprofits, HomeAid Orange County and the Orange County Rescue Mission, the US$33 million community asset was developed debt-free over 14 years, largely through in-kind and cash donations from homebuilders, architects, and engineers around the region.
Located in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, the 1 million-square-meter (10.8 million-sq. ft.) China Central Place integrates three high-rise office towers, two five-star hotels, a shopping center with more than 1,000 tenants and 60 restaurants, seven residential towers, and two new public parks on a 17-hectare (42-acre) site. Threaded by a series of canals and landscaped walkways that link public parks, plazas, and fountains, the mixed-use development devotes over a third of its area to open space. Developed by Beijing Guohua Real Estate Co., Ltd., the land development arm of the state electric power company, China Central Place is located on the reclaimed site of a former power station.
Cabot Circus is a 150,000-square-meter (1.6 million-sq. ft.) new urban quarter developed by the Bristol Alliance, a partnership between two of the United Kingdom’s largest developers, Land Securities and Hammerson. The mixed-use development was built in collaboration with the Bristol City Council, which was eager to revive a major district of the United Kingdom’s eighth-largest city. Cabot Circus was conceived as a new urban heart to the city and designed to provide Bristol’s affluent demographic with high-quality shopping, leisure, and entertainment, in hopes of moving the city up to a top shopping destination.
The Shops at Waterloo Town Square is a redevelopment of a two city block, 25,548-square-meter (275,000-sq. ft.) enclosed shopping mall into a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly district. The project reestablishes a strong street presence in Waterloo’s uptown district, with two new mixed-use buildings comprising 17,744 square meters (191,000 sq. ft.) of shops and restaurants and 9,290 square meters (100,000 sq. ft.) of office space. A new retail street bisects the 2.9-hectare (7.2-acre) site, breaking apart the superblock and bringing a human scale to the project.
Daegu City Center is a 23-story integrated commercial center with an upscale retail mall, a luxury hotel, and nightlife venues in Daegu, Korea. Once a failed discount retail and low-end office complex, the building was redeveloped and repositioned by Doran Capital Partners, creating a financially viable lifestyle retail/entertainment destination and a 203-room hotel in an area in need of retail and commercial options. One of the largest commercial buildings in central Daegu, the 86,847-square-meter (934,813-sf) Daegu City Center has returned economic vitality and retail activity to the downtown core.
The expansion of the Scots Church in Sydney, Australia, is a project that redefines urban development conceptions of historic preservation and adaptive use. This redevelopment involved the conversion of a historic church and its air rights into a 146-unit, environmentally sensitive apartment building with commercial and office uses at its lower levels. Rechristened the “Portico” Scots Church, the resulting architectural feat integrates a neo-Gothic relic with contemporary metal-and-glass residential towers.
Morgan Woods is a 60-unit workforce housing project in the resort community of Edgartown, Massachusetts, on Martha’s Vineyard. The developer, the Community Builders, in a partnership with the leaders of Edgartown, was able to create affordable rental options for the town’s workforce through a creative land deal, modular construction, and progressive zoning. The 21-building residential community stands as a model for other resort towns, which often encounter affordable housing shortages.
NorthWest Crossing is a new 487-acre (197-hectare) residential and commercial community adjoining the city of Bend, Oregon. It is laid out according to new urbanist principles, with an average density of five dwelling units per acre (12.6 units per hectare). It will have 1,350 single- and multifamily homes at buildout, expected in 2012. A total of 26.4 acres (10.7 hectares) of neighborhood and community parks are dispersed throughout, and there are 6.9 acres (2.8 hectares) of natural open space at the edge of the development, complemented by specially zoned lots that preserve existing rimrock and natural high desert vegetation.
