GALVESTON:
1000 UNIT MULTI-FAMILY
This was to be located at a Pier right next to all of the shrimp boats [Galveston, Tx]. This is two blocks from The Strand, a street lined with 19th century historic commercial buildings that have become retail, art galleries and restaurants. Many developers purchased and restored The Strand, the biggest name being Trammel Crow.
This high density urban residential development is planned for a mixture of ages, family sizes and income levels. There is the series of two story row houses for families all built with the garages tucked under a roof garden on the patio. My favorite structure is modeled after a grain silo in the area. The steel frame ghost tower is a light well. There, steel catwalks go through the tower and connect one group of apartments to the silo shaped units. These are loft style units, small and modern for single young adults. The larger building facing the water is more typical in plan. The overall building is shaped so the grain silo structure has west bay views. The two large apartments have water retention tanks on the roof. An elaborate gravity fed grey water system is used for the plumbing. This is similar to the one in operation at the BedZED in Surrey. There is the inclusion of protected greenspace and park land framed by the curved row of palm trees. The park is open land for playing fields, and a part of it is used for garden plots for the apartment residents. The grey water from the apartments is used to irrigate the lawns and gardens.
