Holyer House
An urban infill street facade precedent featuring vertical metal fins and dark-framed storefronts, demonstrating contextual integration within a tight historic alleyway.
- What we like about this project
- The reflective upper-level glazing catches reflections of historic brick masonry from across the alley, bridging old and new.
Materials
- metal
- terracotta
- glass
- brick
- stone
Visual identifiers
- metal-fin-facade
- terracotta-cladding
- storefront-glazing
- urban-infill
- narrow-alley
Style tags
- contemporary
- contextual
- rationalist
Visual tags
- facade-system
- urban-context
- commercial
- historic-integration
- metal-cladding
- street-edge
- Geometry
- Multi-story infill volume fronting a narrow pedestrian alley, with a rhythm of vertical metal fins on upper levels contrasting against a brick and glazed storefront ground floor.
- Facade system
- Unitized or stick-built curtain wall with vertical terracotta-toned metal fins over upper floors; dark metal framing with floor-to-ceiling glass at ground level.
- Structural guess
- Steel or concrete frame with non-loadbearing curtain wall and rainscreen cladding.
- Spatial scale
- Human-scale alleyway with a 4-to-5 story building height that aligns with adjacent urban fabric.
- Lighting
- Bright daylight from above casting crisp shadows in the alley, with strong reflections on the large ground-floor glass panels.
- Atmosphere
- Active and clean urban workspace streetscape contrasting contemporary metal cladding with traditional masonry surroundings.
- Environmental context
- Dense historic urban alleyway flanked by older masonry buildings and mixed-scale commercial infill.
- Spatial experience
- The narrow alley creates a compressed urban canyon compression, opening up slightly as pedestrians walk alongside the active storefronts and metal-clad facade.
- Composition rhythm
- Strong vertical rhythm established by upper-level metal fins paired with structural column bays at the ground-floor storefronts.
- Style reading
- Contemporary urban commercial architecture
- Program
- Commercial office building with ground-floor retail or reception
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- metal, terracotta, glass, brick, stone
- Visual identifiers
- metal-fin-facade, terracotta-cladding, storefront-glazing, urban-infill, narrow-alley
- Style tags
- contemporary, contextual, rationalist
- Visual tags
- facade-system, urban-context, commercial, historic-integration, metal-cladding, street-edge
- Geometry
- Multi-story infill volume fronting a narrow pedestrian alley, with a rhythm of vertical metal fins on upper levels contrasting against a brick and glazed storefront ground floor.
- Facade system
- Unitized or stick-built curtain wall with vertical terracotta-toned metal fins over upper floors; dark metal framing with floor-to-ceiling glass at ground level.
- Structural guess
- Steel or concrete frame with non-loadbearing curtain wall and rainscreen cladding.
- Spatial scale
- Human-scale alleyway with a 4-to-5 story building height that aligns with adjacent urban fabric.
- Lighting
- Bright daylight from above casting crisp shadows in the alley, with strong reflections on the large ground-floor glass panels.
- Atmosphere
- Active and clean urban workspace streetscape contrasting contemporary metal cladding with traditional masonry surroundings.
- Environmental context
- Dense historic urban alleyway flanked by older masonry buildings and mixed-scale commercial infill.
- Spatial experience
- The narrow alley creates a compressed urban canyon compression, opening up slightly as pedestrians walk alongside the active storefronts and metal-clad facade.
- Composition rhythm
- Strong vertical rhythm established by upper-level metal fins paired with structural column bays at the ground-floor storefronts.
- Style reading
- Contemporary urban commercial architecture
- Program
- Commercial office building with ground-floor retail or reception
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture