A primary goal for Crescent is to create a sustainable, urban live/work neighborhood overlooking Merriweather-Symphony Woods. This neighborhood will be unique to Downtown Columbia, with tall office and residential towers set on the periphery within new development parcels on the high ground between lower, environmentally-sensitive areas.
One of the neighborhood’s greatest assets is its natural setting with preserved and enhanced woodlands and tributaries to Symphony Stream and Little Patuxent River. And, while the developed areas will be fairly dense, the park setting, the curvilinear roads, and the rolling topography will set Crescent apart from the other Downtown neighborhoods.
A sustainable built environment will be created through the creation of mixed-use development with amenity spaces that allow residents to socialize, work, shop and play; the design of complete streets where residents can walk or bike to destinations or public transit; the design of buildings that are healthy and use natural resources more efficiently; and the creation of a healthy environment with clean water, clean air, and increased connections to the natural environment.
from Crescent Neighborhood Design Guidelines, Howard Hughes Corporation, March 2015
Columbia Arts Center
Orchard Development selected Design Collective to generate an innovative vision for a new performing and visual arts center with multi-family housing above, in Downtown Columbia, Maryland. Aspiring to become central Maryland’s paradigm for a community arts hub, the performing arts center will house Toby’s 350-seat Dinner Theater in-the-round, 2 black-box theaters, dance rooms and a full service restaurant. The visual arts wing will house the Howard County Arts Council which will include galleries, artist-in-residence studios, classrooms and offices.
In collaboration with the Howard County Housing Commission, 210 residential units will sit above the arts uses, concealing a 700-space garage, with a third-level residential amenity program featuring rooftop courtyards that overlook Symphony Woods and Merriweather Post Pavilion. At the confluence of Downtown and the preserved Woods, this merging of arts and residency will add new life and become a community anchor for Columbia.
from Columbia Arts Center, Design Collective
Crescent Neighborhood Gallery
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