Status: schematic design, NDA

Site area: main campus - 74,600 SM; north campus - 24,300 SM; west campus - 14,900 SM; total - 113,800 SM

Building area: Building A (perimeter) @ 50,400 SM; Building B (boomerang) @ 7- 22,680 SM; Building C (tower) @ 8 - 12,160 SM; total - 85,240 SM

Forest: Right of way - 3,200 SM; main, west and north sites: 12,800 SM; roof - 2,450 SM

“Ritual, art, poesy, drama, music, dance, philosophy, science, myth, religion are all as essential to man as his daily bread: man's true life consists not alone in the work activities that directly sustain him, but in the symbolic activities which give significance both to the processes of work and their ultimate products and consummations.”

LEWIS MUMFORD

ALA LAVO

The tech city is uniquely located, scaled, and detailed to become one of the region's most transformational projects in decades. Our objective is to make a new destination for a media and creative community to gather and work, and for the local and international community to attend public meetings and events.

The regional context for the new Tech City - its cultural and physical realities and its local neighborhood host - form the basis of the design and development for the new project. We propose a new paradigm for building a connected, urban, green community within a rich and evolving regional context.

The Tech City project will be developed by bringing together the large community of educators, producers, creatives and technicians, with a world class technology infrastructure, all set in the context of an exceptionally designed urban environment. The architecture - its iconography, forms, materials, and qualities - will establish the framework within which the city’s creative endeavors will operate. It will be open, flexible, light, full of nature, and a place to flourish.

We envision a series of outdoor public plazas and gardens connected by internal pedestrian walkways, with groupings of buildings placed to frame the open spaces.

The forest is the primeval environment. We come out of it nourished and reenter it to recreate and reestablish our natures. Trees draw down carbon and cool the local environment. So, the forest forms the green heart of our project. A significant portion of the central area of the large site are given to horticulture and building a substantial collection of native plant species. It is a respite for workers and visitors who may leave their urban offices and find themselves walking in a natural environment in the middle of the day.

The landscaper is like a snake winding is way along the sun dappled forest floor. The landscaper is always connected to the earth, the forest canopy, and - in clearings and meadows - the sky. It makes shaded alleyways and its roof is and elevated secret sky garden.

Gardens dominate the city landscape reminding us of the essential and symbiotic relations we share with nature. Towers are set within the greenery, their foundations and entryways are visually and physically adjacent to the forest garden. Their roofs extend above the tree canopies for views across the regional landscape.

Where zoned use is an old idea which hasn't worked well - mixed uses always contribute effectively to a vibrant culture and environment. Both the site and the buildings will have mixed uses. Retail, galleries, and restaurants will occupy the ground floor of office buildings, production premises and studios will sit adjacent to offices, etc. Flexibility - buildings will be designed for flexibility of future use. Retail - retail and conveniences will principally occupy the ground floor spaces along the public street access, and spill into the plaza spaces.

The program elements include a school, tech studios, tech support spaces, offices, restaurants, daycares, auditoria, and housing.

Regional circulation - The Tech city will be connected to the nearby downtown by bus, and is within a 20 minute drive from the city. We propose a dedicated bus service from downtown hotels, government buildings etc, to the Tech City. Pedestrian circulation - the new Tech City will be pedestrian centered; the core areas will be free of cars. Vehicular circulation - cars will be kept outside of the Media City core spaces, and there will be minimal surface parking.

Our intent is to avoid surface parking and to open the site for public use. In our design, the perimeter streets have parallel parking. On the site there is parking under the building footprints. Where needed, based on the requirements of the local zoning codes, we provide additional structured parking. The garages are hidden behind street and plaza facing office and other program spaces so that no blind conditions are created.