Howard Town Center
29 10 2008
The Howard Town Center complex is a project that has long been in the works but never really made it past the design phase. The concept is for a two-acre, mixed-use town center near the Howard University campus. This rendering by Goetz Group Architects attempts to create a more human scale for the development by breaking up the plane of the larger building into different parts, though we aren’t sure how effective that will be given the large modern overhangs.
This building is not like anything else in that neighborhood, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. With the land swap earlier this year, all the pieces are in place to finally get this development going, but it remains to be seen what the finished building will actually look like. We can’t imagine a design that is this edgy will ever fully make it off the drawing board. What do you think of the design?
[Rendering: GGA]
Those punchout balconies look like they would block most of the sunlight from getting into those units. They look nice but are not really that functional.
I don’t really like what I’m seeing, but I need to see different angles and know more about the project layout. Are the first two levels retail?
Overall, I would say “fugly.”
I do like the ground level retail (?) space, but I’m not a huge fan of what’s above floors one and two.
I like the plan at the street level w/ the glass, but I’d like to see smaller setbacks, better landscaping and perhaps some tables and benches and outdoor dining in that render. This is essential for a good college campus. Maybe there’s a square or commons area that has some good places for people to meet up or to sit and read or whatever.
With the facade, the mud colored brick looks ok in plans but will look like shit in real life, I say change the color or use a different material. The plan should be funky and different, but they should go back and tweak this IMO. It could look a lot classier and they could design something a little more timeless while keeping it quirky and different IMO.
That design is hot! It would really stand out. The ground floor retail looks real nice, and I like the units above (if the punchouts are impractical due to light issues, then remove them). The color is very similiar and design is reminiscent to what went up around 3rd or 4th streets NW on Mass Ave, but this one at least alternates the design every few floors rather than having the same boring facade replicated on every floor until you max out the height.
Wow that looks like ugly urban renewal architecture from the 60s. Are you sure that photo isn’t a 1966 concept for L’Enfant plaza.
Only universities can still do something so dehumanizingly ugly.
Wow, I’m surprised anyone likes this. It’s dreadful and will look extremely dated the minute after it’s built. Very “forced modern” like the buildings we thought were a good idea in the 60′s and 70′s, but now regret with all our soul.
I like it. Reminds me a lot of a highrise I saw being built in the Pearl District during a recent trip to Portland OR. Not everyone likes the modern stuff, but hey- that’s what makes cities great…they are constantly evolving tapestries of old and new.
And do you call this modern???? That’s just a rehab building from the 70′s that we all hate…… C’mon friends, we expect better than that.
Why is everybody complaing about the building it looks fine what exactly is wrong with it looks like most of the buildings going up between the 400 and 500 block of Mass Ave NW besides the tan balconies it looks like a typical apartment highrise
I thought exactly what Loganer thought. They’re having a neighborhood meeting tonight at 733 Euclid St NW from 6:30 to 8.
Man, I think that thing is ugly as hell but I defend their right to build it. I can’t understand the long curved wall at the street level (is that a wall?). Why only a few balconies and why are both buildings not made of the same material and color?
I would love to see something that would mirror the building style that is already in the neighborhood.
I think the concept of the development is great. The jobs and housing are really needed in that area. But I think the design is ugly.
[...] little relieved. All I wanted was a sandwich – and maybe some decent retail or amenities, if Howard Town Center ever opens – but now my neighborhood is on a pub-crawl list. So what happens [...]