LIVE design group was among 5 Birmingham architecture firms asked by Operation New Birmingham to provide a sense of what the development along the new Railroad Reservation Park should aspire to.From Operation New Birmingham:When the $22 million. 14-acre Railroad Park is completed in early 2010, it will become the “seam” that links the traditional downtown on the north of the railroad tracks with the UAB Campus and Medical Center on the south. The properties on 1st Ave S between 18th Street and 14th Street North are of primary concern since the face the park on its southern border.In the fall of 2009, ONB convened a working group of property owners, developers, architects and urban planners from both UAB and the City of Birmingham to create design guidelines for these properties which would be presented as a compact. While non-binding, this compact has been accepted by the working group; other developers, property owners and architects will be encouraged to sign the compact going forward.The standards encourage development based on four overriding principles, which state that any development in that area should: 1) Be compact, multi-use and pedestrian oriented; 2) Aspire to “green” environmentally friendly standards; 3) Accentuate primary entrances to the Railroad Park and 4)Integrate and optimize on-site parking and access.
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