RDL Presents Upcycling St. Clair

THE UNION
THE UPCYCLING OF ST. CLAIR
© 2015 All Rights Reserved.

DESIGN TEAM & PANEL
Ron Lloyd, NCARB, RA
President & Founder
Margaret Kavourias, AICP
Planning
Kevin Dreyfuss-Wells, LEED AP BD+C
Architecture & Design
Gregory Soltis, MUPDD
Architecture, Planning & Design
James Amendola
Industrial/Commercial Manager
St. Clair Superior Development Corporation
Haley Lloyd
Interior Design
Crystal Grey
Graphic Design
Marko Lukowsky
Architecture &
Design
Terry White
Architecture & Design

Analysis of St. Clair Revealed
 St. Clair is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Cleveland. More than 50% of
the built environment dates before the 1920s. The neighborhood’s physical
infrastructure is still relatively intact. Despite this, there are only five sites
landmarked and protected, one is a park, three are existing buildings and
one was East Madison School, an historic building that was demolished due
to the state’s policies regarding school funding.
 While the neighborhood is ringed by recreational greenspace, including the
Cultural Gardens in Rockefeller Park and Gordon Park on Lake Erie, there is
none within the core of the neighborhood.
 The neighborhood has many vacant parcels, especially around its periphery
near Superior Avenue and Rockefeller Park.
 While St. Clair became the neighborhood it is largely because of jobs
provided by industry; that same industry creates a ¼ mile-wide barrier from
the area’s greatest asset, Lake Erie. There are only two points of connection
to Lake Erie from the commercial and residential areas of St. Clair.
 St. Clair has an abundance of upcycle and ethnic/culturally historic assets
relevant to the entire metropolitan area.
SUMMARY

RDL’s Intervention Plan Addresses the Issues
Identified in the Analysis by:
 Leveraging Grdina Park, a vacant parcel left from the demolition of a East
Madison School, and the parking lot in front of St. Vitus Church to create a
memorial park and additional park spaces for daytime workers and
residents.
 Linking new greenspace in the core of the neighborhood to the greenspace
on the edges with multimodal transit options; pedestrian designed and
scaled streets that accommodate bikes, automobiles and public transit.
 Creating a historic district that incorporates commercial and residential
sections of the neighborhood. The goal is to encourage new residential
settlement and a greater identity within the region as a destination for culture
and recreation. Additionally, the historic district will signal to business owners
and residents the value of their investment.
 Branding the neighborhood to the greater Cleveland region as an “Upcycle
Neighborhood”.
SUMMARY

About St. Clair
The Neighborhood and it’s Community Development Corporation
BACKGROUND

AERIAL LOOKING WEST TOWARD DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND
FROM THE ST. CLAIR SUPERIOR SHORELINE

ST. CLAIR SUPERIOR (1920-1922)

ST. CLAIR AVENUE & EAST 55TH STREET (1932)

ST. VITUS SLOVENIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH – EXTERIOR (1932) / INTERIOR (2013)

PAYNE AVENUE & EAST 55TH STREET (1944)

LOOKING NORTH TOWARD LAKE ERIE OVER ST. CLAIR SUPERIOR

Explore the Neighborhood
Digitally via Google Earth / Bing
Maps
Windshield Survey via Auto
On Foot

ST CLAIR SUPERIOR AND SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOODS

Find a Guide: engaging stakeholders
The Community Development Corporation
The Councilperson | City Planner
The Business Owner
The Resident

Hope-Sketch: St. Clair Avenue
Reimagined
The Cleveland Flea

The Upcycle Parts Shop

CLEVELAND
URBAN
DESIGN
COLLABORATIVE
DESIGN/BUILD
STUDIO

Check for Existing Plans
City of Cleveland Planning Commission
Lakefront Bike Path
Waterfront Line Extension
NOACA (Northern Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency)
TLCI (Transportation for Livable Communities) Lakefront Greenway
and Downtown Connector Project
NOACA | RTA |City of Cleveland Planning Commission | Amtrak
|Greyhound | Bike Cleveland
Intermodal Transit Hub

Map it Out
Essential Maps
• Figure Ground – a map of building footprints
• Sources
• Your city’s or county’s GIS portal
• Google Earth | Bing
• Existing Land Use
• Sources
• Your city’s or county’s GIS portal
• Google Earth | Bing
• First hand experience walking the neighborhood
• Assets
• Sources
• Exploration & Guides

Map it Out
Essential Maps
• Lynch
• Nodes
• Edges / Barriers
• Districts
• Paths
• Landmarks

Map it Out
Paths
Paths consists of the "channels along which the observer customarily, occasionally, or potentially moves" (Lynch, p. 47). These can include streets, paths, transit routes, or any other
defined path of movement. It is important to note that the paths an individual identifies may not correspond to a traditional street network. These are often the most predominant items in an
individual's mental map as this is main mechanism for how they experience their city.
Edges / Barriers
Edges provide the boundaries that separate one region from another, the seams that join two regions together, or the barriers that close one region from another. They are linear elements,
but are not the paths along with the individual experiences the built environment. They can be physical edges such as shorelines, walls, railroad cuts, or edges of development, or they can
be less well-defined edges that the individual perceives as a barrier.
Districts
Districts are "medium-to-large sections of the city" (Lynch, p. 47). They are typically two-dimensional features, often held together by some commonality. The individual often enters into or
passes through these districts. According to Lynch, most people use the concept of districts to define the broader structure of their city.
Nodes
Nodes are points within the city, strategically located, into which the individual enters (and which is often the main focal point to which she or he is traveling to or from). There are often
junctions – a crossing or converging of paths. They often have a physical element such as a popular hangout for the individual or a plaza area. In many cases, the nodes are the centers of
the district that they are in.
Landmarks
Landmarks are also a point-reference (similar to nodes). However, unlike nodes, which the individual enters during his or her travels, landmarks remain external features to the individual.
They are often physical structures such as a building, sign, or geographic features (e.g. mountain). The range of landmarks is extensive, but the commonality is that there are used by the
individual to better understand and navigate the built environment.

Map it Out
Additional Maps – some suggestions
• Historic District/ Landmarks Map – remember there are differences between local
landmarks and districts and national landmarks and districts.
• Brownfields
• Assets & Liabilities
• Political Boundaries – political districts, wards, CDC boundaries, etc.
• Land banked Parcels

LYNCH MAPS – DISTRICTS STUDY

Rockefeller Park LYNCH -LANDMARK & ASSETS

Rockefeller Park Irish Gardens LYNCH - LANDMARK & ASSETS

Rockefeller Park Italian Gardens / Lower Piazza LYNCH - LANDMARK & ASSETS

LYNCH – PATHS & TRIPS | PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Trends & Demographics
What trends can help define your project and make it successful?
The Great Inversion
Boomers & Millennials seeking walkable urban lifestyle
The Cuyahoga Partnership for Arts & Culture
Cigarette tax approved by voters to support arts & culture.

NEIGHBORHOOD INTERVENTIONS CHECKLIST
1. DEFINE THE BOUNDARIES OF YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
• The best way is a circle that defines a 10 minute walk across the
neighborhood; this is about a 1/2 mile. So pick a central point and draw a
circle whose radius is 1/4 of a mile around that central point.
2. NEIGHBORHOOD ESSENTIALS
• School
• Church / Synagogue
• Corner Store
• Grocery Store
• Parks (Should be 10% of your neighborhood's land area)

3. MIXED HOUSING TYPES
• This means rentals + owner, but also means housing types that appeal to a
wide variety of people from young to old, from single to married with kids,
and from rich to middle-class to poor.
• Public Housing:
• New Housing: Use scattered site public housing that mixed income types
• Existing Housing: redesign it to make it look like middle class housing and not "the projects"

4. CONNECTIVITY
• How and where does your neighborhood connect to surrounding
neighborhoods, parks, districts, downtown CBD, and other amenities?
• What forms are these connections made in? For example, freeways, main
streets, greenways, rapid transit rail and other public transit such as buses,
etc.
• How can you increase connectivity?
• Expand public transit: can a rail line be extended, a bus line introduced?
• Re-introduce parts or all of the original street grid: have streets been vacated and turned
walkable blocks into super-blocks? Can you reintroduce the original streets?
• Intoduce wayfinding signage: would signage help people find your neighborhood, feel a
sense of arrival when they get there, and navigate it?
• Multiply the ways people can get around: Introduction of multimodal complete streets: bike
lanes, express bus lanes, etc.
• Tie green spaces together: design greenways with walking, running, bike paths

5. MAKE PLACES FRIENDLY TO PEDESTRIANS! Design places that are for
people but accommodate cars.
• Walkability
• BLOCK SIZE: ideal block size is 300 - 750 feet. A pedestrian should have an
option to turn every 300-750 feet.
• Consider reintroducing the original street grid if it has been erased or is simply
not used.
• Keep garage doors off the street front.
• Use alleys or lanes.
• Keep houses close to the street.
• Provide parks and a network of connected open space.
• Find a way to have a neighborhood store people can walk to for essentials.
• POD/PRO: Consider suggesting a "Pedestrian Overlay" type of district.
• Think of and design streets as places.

5. MULTIMODAL
• Road Diet: consider the width of your street, is it too wide? Can you use some
of that space for bigger sidewalks and outdoor spaces?
• Could you use extra space on a street for a dedicated bus lane? What other
forms of transport can you suggest and what street do they make sense for?
For example, streetcars, light rail, BRT, bike lanes, greenways for jogging
biking and walking, etc.

6. HISTORIC DISTRICT
• Consider introducing a historic district or expanding an existing one.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
• Create an Historic District: it
must be comprehensive and have both
residential and commercial components.
• Intraneighborhood
Connectivity: multimodal in nature
and links residents to assets.
• Interneighborhood
Connectivity: multimodal
connections to surrounding
neighborhoods.
• Create Useable Greenspace:
well designed parks and recreational
areas. 10% of a neighborhood should be
parks & greenspace.

the grdina park
intervention
URBAN DESIGN

THE EXPLOSION
NTo Downtown
(formerly known as East
Ohio Gas)
e
SITE PLAN

GRDINA PARK EAST OHIO MEMORIAL GATEWAY MILL PAVILION DESIGN
GRDINA MEMORIAL PARK

the union intervention
ARCHITECTURE & INTERIORS

GRDINA PARK
INTERIOR 1928 BUILDING
PRE BLAST ARCHITECTURE
POST BLAST BUNGALOWS
RESEARCH FACILITY NORTH END 1946
ADDITION
RESEARCH FACILITY
SOUTH END 1946 ADDITION
RESEARCH FACILITY 1928 BUILDING
EXISTING CONDITIONS

COMMON STUDIO
(2 STOREY SPACE)
GALLERY
UNIT 1
THE SCULPTOR’S
STUDIO
#2 #3
#4 #5 #6 #7
#18
#8 #9
#10
2 STOREY
LOFT
TOWNHOUSE
#15 #16 #17
#13
#14
#19
#2
0
#21
#11
2 STOREY
LOFT
TOWNHOUSE
#12
2 STOREY
LOFT
TOWNHOUSE
MAIN
ENTRY
(2 STOREY SPACE)(2 STOREY SPACE)
TOTAL AREA: FLOOR 1 - 29,500 SF / RESIDENTIAL RENTABLE AREA: +/-16,500 SF
STUDIO RENTABLE AREA: +/-5,500 SF

COMMON STUDIO
(2 STOREY SPACE)
#23 #24
#25 #26 #27 #2
8
#36
#29 #3
0
#10
2 STOREY
LOFT
TOWNHOUSE
#33 #34 #35
#31
#32
#37
#38 #39
#11
2 STOREY
LOFT
TOWNHOUSE
#12
2 STOREY
LOFT
TOWNHOUSE
MAIN
ENTRY
#22
#4
0
STORAGE
(2 STOREY SPACE) (2 STOREY SPACE)
TOTAL AREA: FLOOR 2 - 22,200 SF / RESIDENTIAL RENTABLE AREA – +/-15,500 SF

EAST OHIO RESEARCH FACILITY MULTIFAMILY RENOVATION

SCULPTOR’S STUDIOTOTAL AREA: 1406 SF
OUTDOOR LIVING
AREA: 340 SF
INDOOR LIVING
AREA: 1066 SF
FOYER
7’6 X 13’0
BEDROOM/STUDY
13’0 X 21’8
LIVING
20’0 X 21’8
KITCHEN
10’6 X 8’0
POD
9’6 X 11’9

EAST OHIO RESEARCH FACILITY MULTIFAMILY ADDITION
THE COURTYARD
TOWNHOUSES WITH FLATS ABOVE

EAST OHIO RESEARCH FACILITY MULTIFAMILY ADDITION

GROUND FLOOR
AREA: 570 SF
MASTER BEDROOM
15’6 X 11’8
GUEST BEDROOM
12’0 X 11’8
BATH
9’11 X 8’1
BALCONYCLOSET
8’5 X 3’2
LIVING
12’0 X 12’0
KITCHEN
9’0 X 12’0
WORKSPACE
11’0 X 10’2
CLOSET
6’8 X 3’2
½ BATH
SECOND FLOOR
AREA: 530 SF
TOTAL AREA: 1100 SF BOOMER ARTIST TOWNHOUSE

BOOMER ARTIST TOWNHOUSE:
MILLENIAL ENGLISH BASEMENT SUBLET
BEDROOM
15’6 X 11’8
BATH
5’0 X 8’8
LIVING
12’0 X 12’0
KITCHEN
9’0 X 12’0
ENGLISH
BASEMENT
AREA: 515 SF
TOTAL AREA: 515 SF

GROUND FLOOR
AREA: 570 SF
MASTER BEDROOM
15’6” X 11’8”
GUEST BEDROOM
12’0 X 11’8
BATH
9’11 X 8’1
BALCONYCLOSET
8’5 X 3’2
LIVING
12’0 X 12’0
KITCHEN
9’0 X 12’0
FORMAL DINING
11’0 X 10’2
CLOSET
6’8 X 3’2
½ BATH
SECOND FLOOR
AREA: 530 SF
RETURNING URBAN BOOMER TOWNHOUSETOTAL AREA: 1100 SF

SUITE 2
AREA: 260 SF
BEDROOM 2
10’5 X 15’6
LAUNDRY/STORAGE
10’0 X 4’6
COMMON
LIVING
10’6 X 24’0
BALCONY
6’8 X 3’2
SUITE 1
AREA: 254 SF
BEDROOM 1
10’5 X 12’3
(+NOOK)
SUITE 1
SUITE 2
YOUNG PROFESSIONAL’S FLATTOTAL AREA: 1100 SF

LEED FOR
NEIGHBORHOOD
DEVELOPMENT
POTENTIAL

LEED v4 for
Neighborhood
Development
Project Checklist

Built into
the existing
neighborhood
LEED v4 for
Neighborhood
Development
Project Checklist

Built into
the existing
neighborhood
Low-hanging
fruit for the
existing
neighborhood
LEED v4 for
Neighborhood
Development
Project Checklist

RDL Presents Upcycling St. Clair

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