PURPOSE

  1. To enable buildings that contribute to the overall development pattern of a street.
  2. To minimize exaggerated building articulations that can interrupt pedestrian movement and result in a disorienting built environment.

APPLICABILITY

  1. Applies to new buildings.

GENERAL

  1. Architectural features and small articulations less than 6 horizontal inches from the surface of a building’s facade are permitted.
  2. Forecourts are permitted on mixed-use buildings, apartment buildings, general urban building, fabrication buildings, and civic buildings, provided they meet the following standards:
    1. Only one building facade may have a forecourt.
    2. Forecourts must provide access to the first floor of a building with the same frequency of windows and doors as the facade it is associated with.
    3. The width of a forecourt must be no greater than 1/3 of the building face to which it is associated.
    4. The maximum depth of a forecourt must maintain a ratio of 1:1 with the height of the associated building face, measured from the surface of the forecourt to the base of the eaves or top of the parapet.
    5. The average elevation of the floor of a forecourt must not exceed 1 ft above the abutting sidewalk.
    6. Courtyards located away from the frontage are allowed for mixed-use buildings, apartment buildings, fabrication buildings, and civic buildings, but their dimensions, shape, and size are not regulated by this Code.
    7. Arcades, may extend across the gap created by a forecourt to create a peristyle, provided they are not enclosed by glass, railings, or other physical obstructions.
  3. Corner buildings with first floor shopfronts may have a chamfered corner, provided the length of the resulting chamfer face is less than 12 feet and that both edges of the chamfer are equidistant from the corner.
    1. Chamfered corners must provide an entrance. This entrance may not be counted toward the primary entrance spacing requirement.
    2. Mixed use buildings may extend the chamfer to upper stories as desired. All other building types must limit the chamfer to the first floor only.

ARCHITECTURAL BAYS

  1. The facade of the shop, and general urban building should be designed with architectural bays to visually break down and minimize the apparent mass of buildings.
  2. Facades should be vertically articulated into a series of architectural bays no wider than 30 feet, that are derived, in general, from the building’s structural bay spacing.
  3. Architectural bays should be comprised of structural vertical elements, such as columns, piers, pilasters, or buttresses that extend from the ground or top of the sign band to the top of the building.
  4. The vertical elements of the structural bay should project beyond the face of the building by at least 4 inches and no more than 24 inches.
  5. Horizontal elements of a facade should not interrupt vertical elements of an architectural bay, excluding cornice, molding, or other architectural elements used to differentiate the base, middle, and top of a building.

FORECOURTS

  1. Forecourts are permitted along the primary frontage on the following building types: apartment building, general building, commercial building, general midrise, commercial midrise, and lab building.
  2. Forecourts are permitted on secondary frontages on the following building types: apartment building, main street building, general building, commercial building, general midrise, commercial midrise, lab building, fabrication building, and civic building. A building may have only one forecourt.
  3. Buildings with forecourts must provide entrances to the first floor of a building along the primary frontage.
  4. The width of a forecourt must be no greater than 1/3 of the building face to which it is associated.