Gensler
A mixed-use commercial building precedent by Gensler demonstrating active ground-floor retail, stepped massing, and upper-level cantilevered terraces at an urban corner.
- What we like about this project
- Mid-level accessible landscaped terrace seamlessly integrated beneath the overhanging upper floors.
Materials
- glass
- metal-panel
- concrete
- timber
Visual identifiers
- cantilevered-upper-volume
- stepped-massing
- retail-storefronts
- street-corner-plaza
Style tags
- contemporary
- commercial
- corporate
Visual tags
- mixed-use
- commercial
- urban-infill
- active-frontage
- stepped-terrace
- Geometry
- Multi-story stepped massing featuring cantilevered upper volumes, a recessed middle terrace level, and a transparent active ground floor.
- Facade system
- Curtain wall glazing at ground retail, unitized vertical fin system on upper floors, and solid dark metal panels.
- Structural guess
- Steel frame or concrete slab construction with cantilevered upper structural transfers.
- Spatial scale
- Human-scaled street frontage expanding to a large multi-story commercial scale overhead.
- Lighting
- Late afternoon or early morning low sun casting long shadows across the street with warm highlights on building facades and street trees.
- Atmosphere
- Vibrant and welcoming urban atmosphere animated by pedestrians, cyclists, and glowing interior lighting.
- Environmental context
- Urban street corner with pedestrian crosswalks, bicycle lanes, mature street trees, and surrounding vehicular traffic.
- Spatial experience
- The street corner opens up via generous sidewalks and active retail glazing, creating an inviting public-private interface before stepping up into monolithic upper office or mixed-use blocks.
- Composition rhythm
- Vertical window fins on upper levels establish a steady rhythmic modulation along the facade.
- Style reading
- Contemporary corporate commercial architecture
- Program
- Mixed-use commercial office and retail
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- glass, metal-panel, concrete, timber
- Visual identifiers
- cantilevered-upper-volume, stepped-massing, retail-storefronts, street-corner-plaza
- Style tags
- contemporary, commercial, corporate
- Visual tags
- mixed-use, commercial, urban-infill, active-frontage, stepped-terrace
- Geometry
- Multi-story stepped massing featuring cantilevered upper volumes, a recessed middle terrace level, and a transparent active ground floor.
- Facade system
- Curtain wall glazing at ground retail, unitized vertical fin system on upper floors, and solid dark metal panels.
- Structural guess
- Steel frame or concrete slab construction with cantilevered upper structural transfers.
- Spatial scale
- Human-scaled street frontage expanding to a large multi-story commercial scale overhead.
- Lighting
- Late afternoon or early morning low sun casting long shadows across the street with warm highlights on building facades and street trees.
- Atmosphere
- Vibrant and welcoming urban atmosphere animated by pedestrians, cyclists, and glowing interior lighting.
- Environmental context
- Urban street corner with pedestrian crosswalks, bicycle lanes, mature street trees, and surrounding vehicular traffic.
- Spatial experience
- The street corner opens up via generous sidewalks and active retail glazing, creating an inviting public-private interface before stepping up into monolithic upper office or mixed-use blocks.
- Composition rhythm
- Vertical window fins on upper levels establish a steady rhythmic modulation along the facade.
- Style reading
- Contemporary corporate commercial architecture
- Program
- Mixed-use commercial office and retail
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture