SERVICES
ASW WHISKEY EXCHANGE, ATLANTA 2019
We specialize in identifying, breaking down, and solving problems that are holding back a place from being socially vibrant and economically productive.
PARTNERS FOR BETTER PLACES
We specialize in identifying, breaking down, and solving problems that are holding back a place from being socially vibrant and economically productive. Those problems can take many forms, including underutilized buildings, poor urban design, outdated, restrictive zoning codes, or a lack of variety of residential and commercial building types. We will work closely with you to develop a strategic plan for tackling these issues and apply our keen sense of design to execute that plan, taking care to ensure that our solutions are contextual and tailored to meet the specific needs of your place.
Outlined in six core services, our holistic approach towards redevelopment enables us to translate our nuanced understanding of high-level design, development, and policy concepts into actionable, cost-conscious solutions tailored to address the specific challenges present in your place. We deliver the highest possible value to our clients when we can leverage multiple services to their benefit. Click on a Service to learn more about our approach to that work, examples of how we have helped other groups in those areas, and how we can help you.
NEIGHBORHOOD REDEVELOPMENT
We believe that vibrant neighborhoods are the essential building blocks of successful cities. We seek to design healthy, safe, and equitable places where people can bike or walk to work or the grocery store and say hello to their neighbors on the way there. We put our multidisciplinary toolkit to work on these projects, strategically crafting buildings, public spaces, and policies that strengthen the public realm and urban patterns, activate neighborhood centers, and promote collective goals.
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Apply holistic approach to neighborhood-scale redevelopment involving architectural services, policy and development guidance, community engagement, and master planning from concept through implementation
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Provide redevelopment and code compliance strategies for existing building revitalization and new-construction infill
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Assess local mobility networks to identify opportunities for reduced dependence on automobiles
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Teach and present the concepts of Complete Neighborhoods and the policies and elements necessary to support inclusive, vibrant, and lasting communities
ARCHITECTURE
The ability to envision, create, and restore physical spaces is at the core of our work at KUA. With a background in adaptive reuse, we have successfully helped return numerous overlooked buildings back to productive use. Whether restoring an old structure or creating a new one, we develop a detailed awareness of physical, historical, and social context, leading to projects that reinforce a unique sense of place.
We work closely with our clients to establish a deep understanding of their vision, needs, and goals, and employ our refined design skills and nuanced grasp of zoning and building codes to bring those goals into reality.
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Provide full architectural services from Feasibility Analysis through Construction Administration
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Support neighborhood redevelopment efforts through strategic and cost-effective new construction and adaptive reuse design interventions
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Support housing choice expansion initiatives with diverse library of Missing Middle and Micro-Housing residential designs
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Teach and advocate for Main Street redevelopment best practices, with a focus on small-scale development
URBAN DESIGN
We realized early on in our practice that the built environment is not simply a collection of buildings and the spaces between them, but rather a complex ecosystem of dynamic forces. Working through the lens of human experience, we leverage our skills and experience – along with those of our partners – to craft places that are inclusive, vibrant, and lasting.
Our urban design efforts are informed by our extensive research and thought leadership on topics spanning design, policy, code, infrastructure, community engagement, and the relationships between them.
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Analyze existing conditions and provide cost-conscious redevelopment strategies
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Unify urban planning and building redevelopment efforts via site analysis, feasibility studies, and conceptual site plans
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Identify and design tactical activation strategies
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Teach and present the concepts of Good Urbanism and how to craft supportive policies
DEVELOPMENT GUIDANCE
A key to building strong communities is unlocking challenging sites burdened by complex site and regulatory conditions. Having worked closely with developers, nonprofits, and municipalities for more than a decade and self-developed projects of our own, we are intimately familiar with aspects of development that are often considered outside the typical scope of the designer.
We bring a specific awareness of inclusive and incremental economic development promoting housing choice, housing affordability, and increased tax value per acre. Our development knowledge in combination with our skills as designers enables us to overcome obstacles through strategic design and careful navigation of zoning and building codes, making challenging projects not only feasible, but highly successful for both the developer and the community.
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Guide development strategies for municipalities for infill residential developments, Main Street redevelopments, and more
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Review viability of proposed development projects, particularly for small and mid-sized public-private development partnerships
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Provide training workshops for city staff and citizen advocates to strengthen understanding of development needs and tradeoffs
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Teach the basics of development and impacts of zoning and regulations on the built environment
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Teach municipalities to think like a developer-urbanist to be able to identify and execute low cost/high return projects that make neighborhoods better
HOUSING CHOICE
Cities and towns across America are experiencing a significant shift in housing needs. Many places that outlawed housing types other than single family homes and large apartment complexes through restrictive zoning ordinances are now discovering that they lack the diverse range of housing options in the right locations needed to support economic vitality.
The term “Housing Choice” describes the expansion of sizes and types of housing that can inject additional housing units into existing traditional, walkable neighborhoods without disrupting their unique sense of place. Leveraging proven architectural designs with strategic policy modifications, we will demonstrate what it takes to get more housing built in the right places in our cities and towns.
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Provide construction documents for missing middle housing ranging from backyard accessory dwelling units (ADUs) through twelve-plexes
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Consult with municipalities on developing a pre-approval process for missing middle construction documents to support implementation of expanded housing choice initiatives
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Masterplan infill housing communities ranging from ¼-acre to 40-acre sites that incorporate a range of housing types and sizes
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Teach and present on the concepts of housing choice and how to successfully integrate these options into your community
ZONING & POLICY
It is often the case that well-intentioned but poorly conceived zoning and development regulations create an economic and operational burden on municipalities and stand in direct conflict with the goal of creating resilient, equitable, and diverse places.
Along with our network of partners, we work to reverse the financial, social, and environmental damage created by decades of misguided regulations. We work directly with developers and municipalities, bringing our extensive resources as recognized leaders on the subject to assess and correct zoning codes and development policies to spark economic development and support inclusive growth.
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Audit municipal zoning ordinances to identify barriers to incremental development and affordable housing initiatives
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Identify opportunities for strategic, low-cost, high-return modifications to existing zoning ordinances to encourage expanded housing choice and incremental commercial infill
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Conduct zoning stress tests to demonstrate potential project outcomes relative to existing zoning regulations in order to illuminate the connection (or disconnection) between desired economic and development outcomes and existing zoning ordinances
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Teach municipalities and community leaders the history of zoning, illustrate barriers created by exclusionary policies to community goals, and present case studies of zoning reform strategies to support healthy communities
