HVFD/RedCross Mixed-Use
Development of the Prince George's Plaza Metro has been progressing and the resident population is expected to increase drastically. In order to serve the residents of this transit district, the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department (HVFD) will need to expand their facilities. With little funds available, HVFD president Matt Davy asked NDC to create conceptual designs of their new facility to find out if their site would be large enough to accomodate an expansion.
NDC volunteers Ryan Jordan, Neil Murray, and Kristen Wisniewski created two conceptual designs showing how the fire department could expand through rehabilitating the existing building and through new construction. Through this process we realized that expansion of the fire department produced a building footprint that would be too large to fit onto the site. To solve this site issue, NDC staff contacted the RedCross, who owns the lot and building next to HVFD, to find out if they would be interested in collaborating by using both lots to create a new building that would serve the needs of both groups.
The HVFD and the Red Cross agreed to this joint venture, and with the Mayor of Hyattsville on board, we proceeded to move forward by creating another design concept with help from NDC volunteer Seth Harry. In addition to the space needs for HVFD and the Red Cross, both groups wanted the building to include another space that could be rented out or sold in order to produce income that would support both non-profit groups. Seth Harry created our second design concept (shown above), which includes two mixed-use buildings: one building for the HVFD and Red Cross and another with retail on the ground floor and residential above.
We used Seth Harry's concept as a reference for our discussions with the Mayor of Hyattsville, local developers: Mid-City Financial and University Town Center, and the Council. Through this dialogue, we were able to refine our design in order to make sure it would be a feasible development that would be supported by the community. Out of these discussions, we realized the benefits of offering senior housing in the development and sharing parking facilities. Not only will we be able to give back to the community by providing housing for seniors, but we will also be able to acquire additional funding that will support the project. Furthermore, in support the mission of the Prince George's Plaza Transit District Development Plan, we will strive to create a partnership with the church across the street to share their parking facilities, rather than building an expensive parking garage on site.
Seth Harry and Kristen Wisniewski are currently working on creating a final conceptual design, which will be used in the coming year to encourage the church to share their parking facilities, receive community approval and support, secure funding for the project, and entice developers to come on board.
Project Completion: 2007
Project Location: 6200/06 Belcrest Road Hyattsville, MD
NDC Architect Volunteers: Seth Harry, Seth Harry & Associates, Inc.; Neil Murray, DMJM Design;
Ryan Jordan and Kristen Wisniewski, Ayers Saint Gross