By james art As townhouses gain popularity due to rising housing costs, creative design allows this type of building to appeal to more buyers. Avenue A Townhomes in Birmingham, AL turns this ordinary type of home into something great.
On a 1.5-acre former industrial site, Nequette Architecture & Design plans 28 residences with 13,000 square feet of retail space — the latter an adaptive reuse of an existing building. The townhouses are set perpendicular to the street, lining two 3,000-square-foot courtyards. The back of each townhouse connects to a private driveway.
The design creates a sense of place and defensible privacy without gates. It’s also a social model – courtyards have fire pits and seating areas where people can get to know their neighbours. Porches and balconies add to the social experience. The courtyards open to the street with many windows on the sides of the buildings facing the street, making the streetscape interesting for passers-by.
The surrounding area is mostly industrial, but has been redeveloped due to the conversion of an old railway line into a multi-use Rotary Trail running right in front of the townhouses. “When H2 Real Estate, the developer, approached us about the possibility of developing this property, we were excited to fill a gap in the urban streetscape,” states the design firm.
The firm explains: “The houses in Avenue A filled an old manufacturing site which for years was nothing more than a dumping ground for unwanted materials and rubbish. This redevelopment replaces several of the missing teeth along this street frontage with good urban design buildings that address and direct the eye to the street. This project makes the streetscape more pedestrian-friendly, makes the Rotary Walk experience more enjoyable and engaging, and brings more people and activity to this redeveloped area of downtown Birmingham.”
Avenue A Townhomes enhance the residential offering of this building type, but the unusual layout requires a different rights strategy as the lots do not face the street. Nequette founder Jared Calhoun explains:
“The City of Birmingham is typical of many municipalities in terms of public right-of-way access requirements for toll lots. For Avenue A, we presented to the subdivision commission the idea that the yards and driveways here, although part of the individual lots, would be covered by common use access and public service easements that allow access to all owners.” So the driveways and yards respond of the person requirements.
Layout helps optimize site density. “Working with the existing grades of the site bound by alleys, streets and neighboring properties, we saw an opportunity to raise the townhouses off the street to create privacy and security for residents. In turn, the communal courtyards are designed to slope down and open to the streetscape,” explains the firm.
