What do people want?

By: Jeremy Clow

A small town, Glenelg located in a rural part of Maryland sits thirty minutes away from multiple metropolitan areas. This new development poses many challenges, bringing a metropolitan landscape to a lush one hundred acres. Implementation of a new road with direct access to the main highway will allow for direct transport to and from the site. Two forms of entry will provide north east access from the existing road that runs along the edge of the site. The site being disconnected from major forms of existing transportation requires implementation for success. The rail line proposed to run adjacent to the south east side of the site would allow for multiple opportunities of transport daily to and from the site. The site is designed to hold two thousand living units, all of which are apartments on the site. These units provide a maximum occupancy of six thousand persons. The six thousand people on the site will be using the public facilities as well as surrounding neighborhoods. Commuters using the train to come to the site may also use facilities near the station and office district. The train station is directly connected to the office district, an affordable hotel complex, and my five star hotel design. To the north of the five star hotel, a tunnel provides direct access to the hotel for parking and service trucks. The tunnels top of road elevation is thirty-five feet below grade. The vehicular portion of the tunnel has a twenty foot clearance adjacent to a two level parking garage below the hotel. Above this is a protected pedestrian tunnel from the train station to the hotel. With the train platform, station, shopping center, and five star hotel all connected underground. Above this passageway is a porte cochere for vehicular traffic above ground to drop off passengers from taxis, busses, and personal vehicles. This drop off zone serves the hotels on both sides of it. The covering is a green roof community space for both hotels to use. The smaller hotel to the north only provides basic amenities and is designed for the traveler or commuter on a budget. The five star connected hotel houses many services, amenities, as well as a conference center. Locals, commuters, and persons staying within either hotel have easy access to and from all parts of the major complex without crossing a street or being exposed to the natural elements. Due to the location shops and services will provide amenities usually accessible only in an urban setting. This provides a convenience for commuters and persons living in the new development. The conference center within the hotel accommodating a few thousand people seemed unreasonable however. In the event of a major conference used by the office district accommodations for visitors would be in lack thereof. The hotel program was to contain three hundred units having a maximum comfortable occupancy of 1200 persons. With the majority of commerce anticipated for a larger conference based on commuting traffic the establishment wouldn’t accommodate the needs. The addition of a hotel above the train station created not only more rooms but more affordable accommodations as well. With the hotels and station all in connection the circulation between them is protected. The site provides two thousand residential units along with the thousands of residents within a fifteen minute radius. The hotel will allow for almost 2000 additional people to be able to stay on the site and participate in larger events and conferences.