PROJECT  Perkins Phase One

LOCATION Baltimore, Maryland, US​

ARCHITECT Hord Coplan Macht

CLIENT Perkins Homes Phase One LLC c/o McCormack Baron Salazar

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM Keval Thakkar, Santosh Chandane, Taejun Kim, Matt Flament, Matthew Fitzsimmons, Emma Weber, Sam Elliot, Amruta Mosarkar, Brian Blodnikar, Andrei Sestacovschi

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Hord Copland Macht
CONTRACTOR Commercial Construction

ENGINEERS
Structura
RK&K
Century Engineering
Century Engineering

PHOTOGRAPHER Max Zhang

CONSULTANTS (if applicable)

PROJECT COMPLETION DATE  4/14/2024

PROJECT SUMMARY
The Perkins Homes project is a twelve block redevelopment project in downtown Baltimore which rethinks the strategy for providing an affordable, high quality living environment for the citizens of Baltimore. Perkins phase One is the first completed block of mixed income housing and amenities.
It replaces one corner of the original Perkins Homes built in the 1940s as public housing for white shipyard workers and their families. Originally conceived as a modern solution to an area of dilapidated row houses, the 1940s Perkins Homes had suffered for many years from the same set of problems that have plagued most mid-century public housing schemes. While the vertical nature of these projects is often cited as a fundamental factor contributing to their failure, Perkins Homes was a low-rise barracks-like “village” of nearly identical buildings which also failed over time.

The design team submitting this project is responsible for the design of the overall site and the affordable portions of this project. The first apartment building and 14 row homes is complete as well as the full block that they are situated within. The second block is well underway. Upon completion, the project will create 1346 affordable mixed income units, 500 market rate units, the relocated school, and various amenities including the central park.

The project is conceived of as a new approach to meet the need for affordable housing in a post- industrial city. It learns from the missteps of mid-century public housing as well as from more recent market rate redevelopment successes. Unlike the original Perkins homes, the new project is not a governmental project by fiat. It’s a public private partnership which featured extensive community involvement at every stage, and which will be managed by a non-profit company with significant levels of experience with making affordable housing work.

The original Perkins homes was a series of nearly identical utilitarian masonry and concrete structures with poor insulation and primitive mechanical and electrical systems. There were playgrounds and other outdoor spaces, but these areas were internal to the project and not clearly visible from the public right of ways. These became archetypical indefensible spaces, a common problem for mid-century housing projects.

The new Phase One block takes care to provide public outdoor amenity spaces and public streets with greater visibility and oversight. the apartment building and group of rowhouses each has its own distinct design which will not be repeated in any of the future blocks. The buildings are designed to be energy efficient, and they are built to the same level of construction quality as the market rate structures. The street furnishing designs are similar to the adjacent Harbor East redevelopment, among the best in the city.

The Perkins Phase One project is not just aimed at improving the lives of its residents. By greatly improving an area of the downtown which connects a number of existing high functioning neighborhoods including Harbor East, Johns Hopkins hospital, and the city center, the project knits together a formerly disjointed set of hubs.

JURY COMMENTS (if applicable)

IMAGES – CAPTIONS & CREDITS

Image 1  Block Corner with Downtown Beyond Photo Credit- Chris Lange
Image 2  Great Room Photo Credit- Max Zhang
Image 3  Block Corner Detail Photo Credit- Chris Lange
Image 4  Main Street Entrance Photo Credit- Max Zhang
Image 5  Row Houses Photo Credit- Max Zhang
Image 6  Amenity Space Photo Credit- Max Zhang
Image 7  Exterior Amenity Terrace Photo Credit- Max Zhang
Image 8  Corner Playground Photo Credit- Chris Lange

MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Project PDF