Proposal 14: ROMANO'S GROCERY [ back to entries ]
The project for Mid City is focused on turning visitors away from vehicles as the primary means of navigating the site. While the automobile has not been cast aside, the design is a response to pedestrian navigation within the community while serving as a regional hub where visitors are equally as welcomed as residents. The reason for pedestrian emphasis within an immediate context is to serve the community it exists within.
North Boulevard Analysis
ANALYSIS: Since the Construction of the overpass, the surrounding street grid was severed. A community is formed between 15th and 18th Street that has no connection to North Blvd. Blocks facing North Blvd. are proposed under the FuturEBR plan as mixed-use arterial; however, this zoning does not respond to the elevation of the corridor or the high speed of traffic.
Movement Analysis
NETWORK CONNECTION: Plotting the two major vectors of movement, Vehicular and pedestrian, reveals that most vehicles enter the neighborhood where 18th Street intersects North Boulevard. This is due in part because of the existing one-way street system in the community. If the vehicular vectors extended down Brice, a connection is formed between the two.
Design Intervention
CONCEPT: The Grocery is oriented towards the community. The entire space opens into the playscape across the street. All the activity of the neighborhood can be seen and heard. The workforce development program of St. Vincent De Paul is located on the third floor where it has unparalleled views of the community and landmarks such as the water tower and the skyline of Downtown Baton Rouge.
Those enrolled in the program also service the grocery and cafe as they learn skills involving those employment opportunities. Classes are also open to the public and there is no indicator to distinguish program students and residents.
