For almost a century the central core of the city, including the Central Business District, Over-the-Rhine, Pendleton, and the West End, has been gradually deserted. In the past decade, however, the trend has changed. The urban basin of Cincinnati is at a transition point, seeing billions of dollars reinvested into its core neighborhoods. Investors are optimistic that the time is now for downtown Cincinnati to become an urban residential hotbed.
Those who are more precarious are critical of the quick development. Kroger Corporation must develop an urban grocery store model that is flexible to enable and allow growth while remaining profitable. Proposed is a small grocery store situated in the structure of a full service parking garage that can expand as density of the neighborhood demands.
The existing Vine Street Kroger loses money for the corporation regularly. This studio’s research directs much of that cause to the building’s layout and size.
Incrementally, the new grocery store would expand, bay by bay, into the structure of a parking garage. The idea is that as density increases in Over-the-Rhine, more people will be using active transportation, rather than driving.
The opportunity to give up parking spaces in favor of increased sales space becomes possible. Each bay expansion comes with an increased set of amenities for the grocery store.
Primary to this concept’s design is the structure for the parking garage. A four story flat plate parking garage with a double helix spiral vertical circulation system enables the grocery expansion.
The flat plates make it possible for the garage to be converted to usable horizontal space as density demands. To circulate these flat plates, a double helix spiral was used because of how compact its design is. Also, the double helix allows for a single path circulation through the parking garage.
By reducing the amount of decisions needed to be made withing the garage, a great amount of stress is removed from the parking experience. Finally, it is important to note that this facility is accessed from Walnut Street while the visible entry to the store is on Vine Street.
Double helix spirals are practical for movement throughout a parking garage. The flat floor plate can be continually shortened without impeding traffic flow.
Flat floor plates and a double helix spiral provide an armature for expansion as density in Over-the-Rhine increases.
HVAC plenum and circulatory space is built for final form during initial construction. This allows HVAC to expand as the grocery expands without expensive reconstruction.
Architecture can facilitate safer places. By bumping out the sales space onto the street with a sidewalk produce market two strategies are implemented. First, bump-outs are an effective way to calm traffic. Slower traffic will make people in this dense area more likely to walk to perform their errands. Second, by claiming the sidewalk, Kroger has effectively taken ownership of the street, preventing devious acts like drug trafficking or prostitution to take place; a challenge for the neighborhood.
