The human-scale workplace

Chapter 6 of the New Urbanism Best Practices Guide

Many workers like having their job in a downtown, town center, or other setting where they can walk out the door and find restaurants, cafes, stores, and other amenities. New Jersey’s State Plan calls for workplace buildings “in close proximity to a critical mass of housing, supported by institutional, civic, recreational and other such uses.” This fine-grained pattern is more enjoyable and in some ways convenient than conventional office parks.

Places that try to integrate work environments with other uses include the urban core of Reston, Virginia; Redmond Town Center in Redmond, Washington; Riverside in Atlanta; Addison Circle in Addison, Texas; Legacy Town Center in Plano, Texas; and Baldwin Park in Orlando, Florida. Reston’s core generates 50 percent less traffic than a comparably sized conventional development. Its design encourages walking, carpooling, and use of buses. In downtown Boulder, Colorado, the Eighth and Pearl development took a corner gas station site and fashioned it into an 18,200 sq. ft. complex that’s approximately one-third offices, one-third retail, and one-third residential. A floor-area ratio of 1.1 allows it to accommodate parking, and provides generous natural light and ventilation.

This chapter discusses several key issues of office parks and mixed-use centers: identity, access, flexibility, predictability, security, recruitment/retention, and costs. Also examined are “flex” houses, which combine living and working in a single building. Live-work units can deliver several benefits: a gentle transition between residential blocks and more intensely commercial buildings; affordable space that can incubate small businesses; an authentic-looking main street with residential above retail; flexibility for buyers; and superior finances and control for entrepreneurs.