Location: North Potomac Yard, Alexandria, VA
Client: City of Alexandria, VA
Size: 65 acres
FAR: 1.63
North Potomac Yard currently has a redevelopment proposal called the North Potomac Yard Small Area Plan underway. Our team was tasked with reading, understanding and analyzing the document before picking it apart and re-designing it from scratch in an effort to propose a better solution for the historically significant brownfield site.
Bird's-eye view of the proposed redevelopment
Biomimicry utilizing Pacific Atolls
Atoll Alexandria was designed based on the concept of an Atoll system seen in the Pacific Ocean. An Atoll is unique in that it is created from volcanic activity and creates the iconic pooling of calm blue waters that hosts some of the most diverse arrays of species on the planet including barrier reefs and endangered coral varieties. If nature is able to create thriving environments that are diverse and have been around for thousands of years, then why can't we find a way to implement this in urban design and planning methods? That is exactly what we did.
Site Inventory and Analysis
Image of a typical Atoll system in the ocean
Site Character
Housing
Zoning Plan and Concept Development
Completely removing all proposed buildings in the Small Area Plan meant developing a new zoning plan that fell in-line with our Atoll concept.