8th St. Block Masterplan

SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN OVER

Located in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, the 14-square block known as the Cultural District is a world-class arts and residential neighborhood along the southern edge of the Allegheny River. Established in 1984, the Cultural District’s transformation from blighted red-light district to a cultural destination was led by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Today, the Cultural District serves as an internationally recognized model for urban redevelopment. While at BuroHappold, Steven Baumgartner was part of the core-team selected to help continue this planning legacy with the 8th Street Block Master Plan.

Steven worked closely with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and design team to establish a performance vision and planning guidelines for the Master Plan. The team engaged Pittsburgh’s leading institutions for sustainability and downtown redevelopment, including the Green Building Alliance and Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, major property owners and local utilities to define opportunities and challenges facing the project. Their input was used to validate an existing conditions assessment and inform the creation of a buildings and infrastructure Performance Framework for the 8th Street Block Master Plan.

In addition to the Performance Framework, Steven led the team to establish high performance building and infrastructure guidelines. This included the modeling of energy and water demands under a number of development scenarios to assess the feasibility of various district systems, which was further informed by a stakeholder engagement process.

Location:  Pittsburgh, PA

Client:  Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

Date: 2016

Collaborators:    Urban Design Associates, Laquatra Bonci, Trans Associates.