PROJECT  Aster

LOCATION College Park, Maryland, US​

ARCHITECT Design Collective, Inc.

CLIENT Bozzuto Development, Willard Retail, Terrapin Development

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN TEAM Scott Geczi, Nick Mansperger, Michael Goodwin, Evan Phoebus, Steve Kohl, Emily Sales, Hannah Breedlove, Justin Obringer, Emma Crenshaw

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT LandDesign
CONTRACTOR Bozzuto Construction

ENGINEERS
Cagley & Associates
Bohler Engineering
Schwartz, Sievers, Anoia Engineering
Schwartz, Sievers, Anoia Engineering

PHOTOGRAPHER Tom Holdsworth AND Seamus Payne

CONSULTANTS (if applicable)
Interior Design; Streetsense; ametzler@streetsense.com
Sustainability; Doo Consulting; meganc@dooconsulting.net
Code, Jensen Hughes; DWILMOT@JENSENHUGHES.COM
Lighting; Palindrome; mike@palindromedesign.us
ID/Signage; Younts Design; ronnie@yountsdesign.com

PROJECT COMPLETION DATE  12/1/2022

PROJECT SUMMARY
Aster bridges community with nature through a biophilic approach connecting community to nature, town to gown and campus to metro.

Challenge
The campus-edge location is the gateway parcel welcoming you to College Park and the University of Maryland’s flagship campus from the south. The odd shaped mega-block housed a low scale hotel and restaurant surrounded by a sea of parking, with twenty-three feet of cross slope adjacent to a stream valley and flood plain. The challenge was to turn this existing car-centric site into a vibrant retail-centric mixed-use community focused on an urban pedestrian experience.

The design process raised several questions: Could this parcel finally connect the University of Maryland to its off-campus Metro station? Could the site’s organization invite the larger 55,000+ daily campus users to live, shop, and dine in a uniquely urban setting for College Park? Could the residents’ clubhouse experience be driven by series of visual connections to the site’s adjacent stream valley and old growth forest?

Solution
The design harnesses existing natural assets to inform a design imbued with biophilic connections.

Responding to the site’s direct axis to the Metro, the design employs a central curving retail ‘ravine,’ recalling the adjacent stream valley, to split the parcel into 2 right-sized urban blocks, maximizing retail frontage, and creating a pedestrian-focused outdoor dining experience. This new retail ‘ravine’ provides a direct pedestrian experience from campus to both the city of College Park and to the Metro beyond for the first time.

At the heart of the project, the residential clubhouse bridge spans this retail ‘ravine,’ linking both residential buildings with communal living, dining, and study spaces, and providing dynamic visual connections to the retail street below. The bridge angles in plan for an axial alignment to the south building’s elevated pool courtyard, with commanding views to the old-growth forest beyond. The curved street and angled bridge give a sense of informality complimentary to the adjacent curving stream valley, sloping topography, and site’s natural features.

Biophilic connections
The clubhouse bridge’s organic finishes and plantings are a hallmark of the project’s ethos. Flanked on both sides by full height glazing, exterior slats mitigate heat gain and glare to render a day-lit space focused on calmness and wellbeing. With no units above, the bridge’s raised ceiling uses the golden section proportion to provide familiar hierarchy in the heart of the clubhouse. Clubhouse views east, west, and south focus on the stream valley and old growth forests beyond for enveloping views to nature. The amenity experience employs a sequence of compression and expansion to heighten awareness of views to the site’s surrounding assets.

Program
Aster’s community includes 393-units in 2 6-story podium buildings totaling 563,000 SF. It is the first multi-family project constructed in College Park in decades, providing much needed attainable housing for University teachers, staff, and research and young professionals. An ambitious 60,000 SF of retail is anchored by the downtown’s first grocer and fitness tenants, supporting in-line food and neighborhood retail services.

JURY COMMENTS (if applicable)

IMAGES – CAPTIONS & CREDITS

Image 1  Amenity bridge spans new retail street, connecting two 6-story residential blocks; Seamus Payne
Image 2  Amenity bridge spans new retail street, connecting two 6-story residential blocks; Seamus Payne
Image 3  Biophilic inspired amenity bridge overlooks retail street below; Seamus Payne
Image 4  New retail street gateway fronting Route 1 connects the University of Maryland to the College Park Metro Station; Seamus Payne
Image 5  Central clubhouse bridge overlooks retail street below; Tom Holdsworth
Image 6  The clubhouse spans the retail street with V-shaped columns adorned with a 70’ mural; Seamus Payne
Image 7  Amenity bridge overlooks stream valley beyond and retail street below; Tom Holdsworth
Image 8  Axial alignment of bridge, aqua lounge, and pool focus views to forest beyond; Seamus Payne

MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD
Project PDF