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 November 2, 2021-Contact FacilitiesNet Editors »

In an iconic song by Joni Mitchell, heaven is paved and turned into a parking lot. Recently, in Cincinnati, the situation was just the opposite. A parking lot was demolished and turned into—well, maybe it’s not heaven, but at least a very beautiful apartment building, some people think it helped transform the city inadequately before. The area used. This multi-functional building named 1010 On The Rhine opened in autumn 2019. Its classic skyscraper volume helps to blend into the surrounding historic districts, and the unique metal panels and glass curtain walls ensure it stands out in the city skyline. 

The project’s hometown design company GBBN director and community development director, AIA Steve Kenat, said that the project took several years to develop before the parking lot it replaced began to use jackhammers. One of the complications is that the owner, Rookwood Properties, wants to establish a partnership with the Cincinnati-based supermarket chain Kroger. Cincinnati Central Urban Development Corporation recognized the potential of the project to build a bridge between the city center and the community above the Rhine and helped promote this relationship. The completed project included a two-story flagship store on the street to encourage more Pedestrian traffic in the area. The building also provides convenient public transportation options, so it can be easily reached without a car. 

"Our vision is to transform this steering knuckle-it's right in the middle of the two-mile loop of our tram line," Kenat said. "This is a great intermediate that can weave" the city together. 

After the project team was formed, the design work for this 18-story building was started, which has 139 luxury apartments and several floors of parking spaces. From the very beginning, the GBBN team realized that a successful plan must integrate the old and the new. 

"Volume and connectivity-almost all of this is driven by historical background," said Stefan Cortelis, GBBN assistant for the project. "But we still want it to become a modern building." 

A large part of the modern style of the completed building comes from the combination of metal wall panels and glass windows for the exterior. Although two grey prefabricated cement panels define the parking lot, the rest of the building is not glass, but covered with metal panels installed vertically in four colors to create a fuzzy art deco pattern, the idea of ​​its development Much more than it looks like this. 

"We run computer algorithms, so it is not random, but it seems to have an organic feel," Kenat said. According to his colleague Cortelis, the process "really is trial and error-is there enough change? Is there enough reflection?" 

To supply the panels, GBBN from Wheeling, West Virginia, and the installation contractor KRSM turned to Petersen. The company's approximately 44,000 square feet of embedded panels are made of 0.040 gauge aluminum and are divided into stone white, urban landscape, silver and custom charcoal finishes. As the project progressed, the company also provided important design assistance. 

Cortelis said: "We worked with a representative to complete the detailed work to deal with each situation." "The details of the door frame are very important to us, and how to transition between every other floor of the shift-we are actually Draw in 3D." 

The project kicked off with a grand celebration held in Kroger’s unique food hall, and the restaurant immediately became a popular destination for local food crowds. The leasing of fashionable apartment houses is also proceeding rapidly. More important seems to be the impact of the former parking lot on the surrounding communities through its renovation. 

"Everyone insists that this project needs to bring vitality to the area, and this building will become a turning point," Cornelis said, noting that this goal seems to have been achieved. "It has brought more development, more restoration, and more conversion of the buildings on Court Street into residential buildings." 

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