Clark Nexsen has won the international Activate Urban Housing Design Competition with its proposal for an urban dwelling on South Mint Street in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. The design, entitled Mint, focuses on connectivity and neighborhood and includes residential, retail, and open green spaces.
Conceived as a catalyst for a culinary district, Mint aims to create a new urban living and working space, in which the connectivity of food-centered entrepreneurial enterprises fosters a sense of community.
Conceptually, we found a culinary incubator an interesting way to tie the residential with the retail and on a macro scale tie the development in with the bigger picture in Charlotte,” said Clark Nexsen architect, Albert McDonald. “We started to make connections between Johnson & Wales, a culinary school in Charlotte, tapping into new restaurants, bars, and breweries popping up in the local area. We started making connections to downtown Charlotte and the Carolina Panthers Stadium and started to think this could be a really good place for people to hang out before going downtown for games, as one example.
The site design additionally focuses on green space, incorporating a co-op garden for residents in partnership with test kitchens and on-site restaurants, as well as green pedestrian paths between residential and shared spaces.
Furthermore, a plaza will accommodate live entertainment and market or food trucks on Saturdays.
Learn more about the project here.
News via Clark Nexsen.
