NEW GREEN NEIGHBORHOOD

Located on what was once the US Botanical Garden’s nursery facility, Columbian Quarter would be the beginning of a new, radically sustainable, transit-oriented neighborhood.  Closely tied with its immediate neighbors, but regionally connected by D.C.’s metro lines and a 20-mile bike trail in the Anacostia Park System, the project would serve as a model for integrated development, marrying a collection of new buildings with each other, with the neighborhood, and with the larger landscape.  This new hub would also be an experiment in pedestrian-centered mobility, holding vehicular traffic to the outer edges, preserving the core of the public space as pedestrian and bike only.  This wide, car-free zone would create a slower, more naturally-connected public realm, catering to mixed-scale gatherings and amenities, all woven together with high-performance plantings and water-centered green spaces.