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| Communities by Design Built Works: Architects Demonstrate the Value of Community Design | | > | A Civic Vision for Turnpike Air Rights Boston, Massachusetts | | > | East Baltimore Comprehensive Physical Redevelopment Plan Baltimore, MD | | > | Inner Harbor East Baltimore, MD | | > | Lafayette Courts Baltimore, MD | | > | Mid-Embarcadero San Francisco, California | | > | Landmark Lighting Master Plan Milwaukee, WI | | > | New York State Canal Recreationway Plan Albany, NY | | > | Pennsylvania Convention Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | | > | The Village of Park DuValle Louisville, KY | | > | Riparian Meadows, Mounds, and Rooms Warren, Arkansas | | > | UrbanRiver Visions seven communities, Massachusetts | | > | West Harlem Waterfront Park New York, New York | | > | R/UDAT Built Works | | > | R/UDAT Austin, TX | | > | R/UDAT Moose Jaw, Canada | | > | R/UDAT Salt Lake City, UT | | > | R/UDAT San Angelo | | > | R/UDAT Springfield, IL | | | |
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Project Details
Architect: Ehrenkrantz Eckstut and Kuhn
Architects
Award: Inner Harbor East Masterplan received a
National Honor Award for Urban Design from the American Institute
of Architects
Implementation Status: Baltimore’s Inner
Harbor waterfront is known world-wide as a tourist attraction, as
well as being a source of civic pride
View Communities by Design Built Works: Inner Harbor East (requires Google Earth)
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Background
EE&K Architects’ design for
Baltimore’s Inner Harbor East added a residential dimension to
the city’s successful Inner Harbor, providing an opportunity
for more people to live at the water’s edge while remaining
close to downtown. The mixed-use program provided residential
facilities, major office buildings, hotels, and ground-level retail
space including a supermarket and waterside shops and
restaurants.
Great care was taken to preserve the sense of an urban residential
scale. The plan specified lower heights along the water, with
heights increasing inland. This maximized views of both the the
harbor and the city. Streets and public spaces were also central to
the Inner Harbor East Master Plan. The most important and
intensively used element of the open space system is the promenade,
which is a breakthrough in contemporary urban design since it is
linked with a new waterfront street that encircles the site.
Pedestrians and automobiles have access to the entire water’s
edge, creating a true neighborhood feel and character as well as
serving to bring life the the waterfront.
Implementation Status
• 1983 - Baltimore city officials hire planning team
for the Inner Harbor East renewal area, including Stan Eckstut of
Cooper Eckstut Associates.
• 1986 - John Paterakis purchases the future site of Inner
Harbor East from Michael Silver and hires Stan Eckstut, now with
Ehrenkrantz Eckstut and Kuhn Architects (then the Ehrenkrantz
Group) to design the plan for the property.
• November 1988 - A partnership of Gilbane Properties of
Providence, R.I., and John Paterakis submit 51-page proposal to the
Schmoke administration that signals their intention to build a
¡§truly urban mixed-use neighborhood¡¨ on
future site of Inner Harbor East.
• 1993 - Land Disposition Agreement signed by City of
Baltimore
• July 1994 - 200 slip marina opens.
• December 1994 - Inner Harbor East Masterplan receives a
National Honor Award for Urban Design from the American Institute
of Architects.
• April 1995 - Marina House opens.
• February 15, 2000 - Courtyard by Marriott opens.
Public Process
News Articles
“Inner Harbor East plan aims at harmony of new, old.”
Gunts, Edward. The Sun Real Estate. March 23, 1986.
“Creating a $350 million city ‘neighborhood.’”
Gunts, Edward. The Sun Business. November 13, 1988.
“Designing a Neighborhood.” Gunts, Edward. The Sun
Business. December 5, 1988.
“Baltimore’s Big Turnaround.” Keiger, Dale. USAir
Magazine. November 1990.
“Gardens on the Sea.” Ditch, Scott. Landscape
Architecture. February 1991.
“Inner Harbor East project wins national award.” Gunts,
Edward. The Sun Urban Landscape. December 8, 1994.
Community Impact
A generation ago, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor waterfront was
largely decaying and abandoned. Today, it is known world-wide as a
tourist attraction, as well as being a source of civic pride as it
unites the business of the flourishing downtown area with that
along the water. Many people now work in the new office buildings
and hotels and make their residences in the new apartment
buildings, condos, and townhouses, while keeping their boats in the
nearby marina. The redevelopment of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor
has created 36,000 permanent new jobs, hundreds of thousands of
short-term construction jobs, and over $4 billion in public and
private investement, which the design for Inner Harbor East has
largely contributed to. Inner Harbor East added over 800 rental and
condo units, as well as an Embassy Suites Hotel consisting of 245
hotel suites, a 140,000-square-foot office building, a 204-slip
marina, and 80,000 square feet of shopping and restaurants. Also
added was $20 million worth of roads, sidewalks, light fixtures,
and other public improvements.
Lessons Learned
• Integrating large-scale, mixed-use development within an
historic neighborhood.
• How to add an attraction to an enormously successful urban
waterfront destination.
• Learning from the existing context and interpreting the
information to create an authentic design.
• How to build and phase a complex mixed-use waterfront in a
relatively short period of time.
Principles for Livable Communities
The master plan for Inner Harbor East attempted to create an
authentic Baltimore neighborhood at the water’s edge. It was
designed with an emphasis on streets and public spaces as a means
to connect the public to the waterfront, including a variety of
streets for both car and pedestrian activity. The public space
system was highlighted by a 2,000-foot waterfront promenade that
acts as a link to the Inner Harbor and to other nearby residential
areas; bikers, joggers, and leisurely strollers bustle along this
waterfront space. The design incorporated the grander proportions
of Mount Vernon Place, along with the intimate, low-rise feeling of
Fell’s Point and Little Italy. As the buildings move away from
the waterfront, they increase in height so that the taller
buildings of the plan take advantage of views both out to the
harbor and back toward the city.
The master plan also called for a mixed-use program of retail and
residential to create a diverse urban environment, including office
builidings, hotels, and ground-floor retail space. The waterfront
is also activated by the marina and marina retail. By creating an
authentic neighborhood rather than just another suburban waterfront
attraction, Inner Harbor East adds a new level of diversity and
excitement to Baltimore’s waterfront.
Overall Sustainable Contribution
The development of Inner Harbor East maximizes the existing
history, culture, tradition, and economic health of the Inner
Harbor. The dense urban development uses less land, is more
pedestrian-oriented, and creates more value for the existing
area.
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| A generation ago, Baltimore’s Inner Harbor waterfront was largely decaying and abandoned |
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| Today, it is known world-wide as a tourist attraction, as well as being a source of civic pride as it unites the business of the flourishing downtown area with that along the water |
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| The 2,000-foot waterfront promenade acts as a link to the Inner Harbor and to other nearby residential areas; bikers, joggers, and leisurely strollers bustle along this waterfront space |
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