Concepting Multifamily & Mixed-Use Design

As the modern lifestyle evolves, it changes the way we design our living spaces and communities. The influx of hybrid work overlapped office and home environments and individuals now reexamine the multifaceted aspects of their personal space. Homes have become a mixed-use environment, and that sentiment extends beyond the front door.

Today’s residents place value in conveniences like shopping, restaurants and grocery within an immediate walkable distance. Multifamily developments prioritize residential amenities like clubrooms, business centers, podcast rooms, pet parks and everything in between to entice tenants.

The growing popularity of these project types have revealed the challenges our designers and multifamily clients encounter, especially during the initial phase of concept design. The primary goal of the conceptual design process is to marry the client’s vision with reality and accomplish the client’s goals.

Puzzling Together the Pieces of Feasibility

In a phase reliant on communication and idea sharing, it’s important to ask the question: what is the client striving to achieve with the site provided? The answer typically lies in the core elements like square footage, unit requirements, desired retail and amenity preferences – to name a few.

The clearer expectations are, the better equipped our team is to translate these details into a feasibility study. After all the necessary information is collected, it can be determined if the project is feasible in its current form. Each element is a piece of a puzzle that designers solve. It’s their task to see if the assembled puzzle reflects the client’s intention.

Several factors impact whether the desired program can become a reality. City regulations like zoning ordinance, site constraints and parking counts can impact the building size and maximum number of stories, which in turn affects the unit count. In these situations, it’s vital to find a creative solution which best fits the program. If the city regulations disrupt the desired program and it cannot be achieved, designers will collaborate to find creative solutions. Together, the team will determine if it’s feasible to adapt the program in a way that allows it to be built on the intended site.

Designing a Cohesive Aesthetic

Once the building plan is determined, the project vision can come to light. We collect input about the preferred aesthetic and pair it with the designers’ independent findings and cues from the surrounding site. This produces a presentation which includes building vignettes and imagery and illustrates the proposed design concept and story narrative.

These renderings create an accurate visual of the development and present the opportunity to elevate the details that give the project personality or better fit the narrative of the brand. Simultaneously, the team develops schematic floor plans, inclusive of approximate building areas that can then use as part of a proforma.

Together, these documents are utilized to generate excitement among investors, financial institutions and later, the city of the project’s location. These renderings help determine cost estimates and floorplans, which help create an accurate budget for impactful statement features or materials. However, more importantly than sophisticated visuals is the clarity of what a project can be and it’s potential.

Approvals for Mixed-Use & Multifamily

There are a handful of reasons a city downsizes or rejects a project – reasons which commonly trace back to location. Sometimes the site is located in a too-dense urban area where square footage is limited. Other times, the surrounding area is filled with single-family residential homes and residents oppose their neighborhood being shared with (what could potentially be) hundreds of new neighbors. It’s important to propose a compromise, if possible.

The overall goal of the entitlement process is for the client to obtain plan approvals from the city. Particularly on mixed-use and multifamily projects, the project needs to be advocated for in neighborhood meetings and in front of the planning commission and city council. While code compliance is not at the forefront of everyone’s mind during schematic design, it’s important to keep this element in consideration to avoid the unfortunate situation of a great design being derailed by a code issue. Keeping code compliance at top of mind minimizes the potential of project rework.

Adapting to Changing Lifestyles

Once approval is secured, the project moves forward to the next step: engaging consultants and interior design teams. Once these teams are activated, the project moves to design development and the completion of construction documents.

As the phase of conceptual design comes to a close, it’s important to keep the community in mind. Multifamily and mixed-use developments cater to individuals that seek convenience. When a tenant’s day-to-day life is improved with amenities and walkable communities, it has a direct positive impact on their quality of life. With convenience being key in the modern day, multifamily and mixed-use architecture developments will continue to flourish and redefine the everyday community.

About the Author

Nicole Curry is the Vice President and Director of Mixed-Use and Multifamily at BRR. Nicole joined BRR in 2021 with more than 18 years of experience designing and managing award-winning multifamily and mixed-use developments in both urban and suburban communities, office buildings, tenant finish and single-family homes. Click here to learn more and connect with Nicole.