Box.Store.Urbanism

Brittany McClure
Student

ARCH 511, Spring 2010

Box-store urbanism implies the re-location and re-conception of the large scale retail typically found in suburban box stores. The large retail volumes are immediately challenged by the urban fabricís need for reduced lot sizes, mixed use programs, and active street edges. Through intense urban negotiations and parametric modelling the project explores alternative configurations and various types of organizational strategies. The project, located in Kansas City, Missouri, inverts the typical formation of a retail plinth and office tower. Offices are located within a horizontal mat building which provides direct access to the street, the roof terraces, and the smaller scale retail in the adjacent buildings. The large areas of retail are located in the vertical towers with direct access to the underground parking which is covered by the offices.