Uptown in Cleveland is the creation of a new center, a main street for Case Western and Cleveland Clinic.
A segment of Euclid Ave is anchored by two new cultural institutions, MOCA on the west and CIA on the east. Linking these two pivots are urban fabric buildings that contain commercial, retail and entertainment, with housing above.
The two fabric buildings, Phase 1 of the development, line Euclid Ave and sweep around the corners, making a new urban intersection at 115th Street, unfolding to connect to the CIA building. This form establishes a counterpoint to University Circle at the MOCA end of the site, and demarcates Uptown.
The building on the south side of Euclid Ave, Beach, has commercial space lining the street, with parking at the rear. The commercial space houses a Barnes and Noble Bookstore, the entry lobby to the residences above in a gateway which pierces the building, and a grocery store which wraps around the corner. The residential units above are of numerous types, ranging from one to three bedroom units, structured in layers. From a double loaded central hallway, service bars are established on either side, connected to the habitable spaces on the outer walls.
Across the street is a complimentary building, Triangle, which forms an alley, a new pedestrian street, together with existing CWRU Residence buildings, which have new commercial programs added at their base. Triangle is transparent and perforated, with eight restaurants which spill out onto the alley. Above are student apartments, structured in a similar way to the ones across the street, but more compact. Several communal outdoor courts perforate the façade. At the end of Cobble Alley, a gateway under the buildings connects to the folded entry of CIA.
The commercial bases on both sides of the street are transparent, perforated and light. The façades of the two buildings are gridded and perforated, and recall the punctured window facades that are a prominent part of Cleveland’s urban fabric.
Uptown is the new hub of contemporary Cleveland. Phase ll and lll will complete the block from Ford to 115th along Euclid with two more structures, making an urban neighborhood of four buildings in dialogue and connection, all using the same language, each more than itself.