Project Description
Willkommen: Great Design for All
Distributed across 14 buildings—11 historic, 3 new—Willkommen will create the largest addition of affordable housing in Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood in memory.
Bringing much needed affordable housing to Cincinnati’s urban core, Willkommen will help sustain the diversity that animates Over-the-Rhine. At the same time, it delivers design equity to a lower and mixed-income population that is often excluded from the dignity, functionality, and delight of good design.
Occupying previously empty lots, the new construction slips into holes in the historic fabric of the neighborhood that were created by years of demolition and economic disinvestment. While bolstering the neighborhood’s population density and reinforcing the engaging experience of its streets, the buildings introduce contemporary design that enables its inhabitants to appreciate the ongoing dynamic history of Over-the-Rhine.
The shared design concept for these buildings is simple yet thoughtful. It begins with a basic rectangular shape (defined by zoning, historic guidelines and the residential and commercial space requirements) and then gently folds its envelope out or in, up or down, shifting surfaces from opaque to transparent, in response to the demands of the program and context. This approach to the historic fabric of the neighborhood results in a distinctly contemporary architectural response that enhances the historic character of the streetscape.
Noteworthy Features:
Willkommen’s hyper-local approach advances the health of the neighborhood holistically. Though they share a material palette the three buildings speak to the individual character of their immediate contexts. Each intervention responds to the question of how to make this street safer, more joyful, more functional, more supportive of its inhabitants.
• VINE STREET: A modern take on the neighborhood’s historic oriels, Vine Street’s undulating brick wall floats above a glass storefront, providing residents with privacy and sunlight. Our team used Augmented Reality, parametric design, and a physical prototype to help masons troubleshoot its striking geometric form.
• REPUBLIC STREET: Willkommen on Republic uses its large glass lobby, stairs, and stoops to connect residents to the street, fostering a sense of activity and presence on a quiet, narrow street that has sometimes felt shuttered.
• PLEASANT STREET: The building provides an important transition from Liberty, a busy arterial street, to the intimate, pedestrian setting of Pleasant Street. Fronted with oversized sidewalks, its elegantly-creased brick bulk rises above glass storefronts, inviting commercial activity across Liberty. Around the corner, beneath sweeping angular overhangs, the space becomes quiet, the scale intimate, and pedestrians slowly realize that the Rosemary Clooney mural that they thought was gone now embraces a playful courtyard.