LOHA, Studio Dwell and more complete 23-building neighbourhood in Detroit

Six architecture studios from across the country, including LOHA and Studio Dwell, have completed the 23-building City Modern development in Detroit that encompasses 450 new residences and the restoration of three Victorian brick mansions.

Located in the Brush Park neighbourhood outside of Downtown Detroit, the development spans one full block and another half-block across the street for a total of 8.4 acres.

Architecture studios Hamilton Anderson Associates (HAA), Merge Architects, Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects (LOHA), Studio Dwell, McIntosh Poris Architects (MPA), and Christian Hurttienne contributed to its master plan, as well as individual buildings or clusters of housing.

Developed by Bedrock and Hunter Pasteur, it contains "market-rate, affordable, and workforce housing" – including senior housing – across a mixture of apartments, townhomes, carriage homes and condominiums, as well as retail space.

Twenty new buildings were constructed for the project, while three pre-existing brick mansions were converted into housing.

"City Modern is the first major ground-up neighbourhood built in Detroit since the 1980s," said Bedrock founder Dan Gilbert.

"We didn't just build housing, we rebuilt a community. What was once vacant land is now a mixed-income district with homes, businesses and public spaces."

The neighbourhood's four corners are bordered by four mixed-use buildings by LOHA, including the red metal-clad, geometric 320 Edmund Place and the stepped, wooden John R 2660 apartment building in the opposite corner.

According to the studio, the four buildings were informed by "Detroit's urban palette" and were clad in materials found commonly in the city, such as brick, wood, and metal.

They also all tier downwards to meet the heights of adjacent buildings.

"With sensitivity towards the historic buildings and low-slung character of the neighbourhood, each of the buildings' massing steps down midblock to the height of the adjacent buildings," said LOHA.

Buildings by Bedrock, Merge Architects, Studio Dwell Architects and HAA sit in the neighbourhood's core.

These include twin pitched-roof structures by Bedrock sandwiched between the historic Victorian mansions on site, and rows of duplex-style homes by Merge Architects that were informed by a "reimagination of a historic garage precedent", according to the studio.

According to Urbanize Detroit, City Modern broke ground in 2016 with the development's affordable senior living building called the Flats, which sits just outside of its main block and was designed by HAA.

The development's parcels were vacant before construction began, save for the few brick mansions on site.

Commercial shops in the neighbourhood include a dental practice, an eatery and the Brush Park Bodega, while other retail space remains to be leased.

Detroit has seen a number of larger developments in recent years, following the city's post-industrial decline that culminated in a bankruptcy filing in 2013.

Many of these developments include the restoration and conversion of historic structures, such as the Book Tower and The Shepherd arts centre by PRO as part of the larger Little Village development.

The photography is courtesy of Bedrock

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