Design Review Program
Applicant's Toolbox: Design Guidelines

Multifamily and Commercial Buildings | Downtown Development | Neighborhood-Specific Design Guidelines

Design Review Guidelines for Multifamily and Commercial Buildings

<previous
D-1 Pedestrian Open Spaces
and Entrances		 next>
D-3 Retaining Walls

Guideline D-2: Blank Walls
Buildings should avoid large blank walls facing the street, especially near sidewalks. Where blank walls are unavoidable they should receive design treatment to increase pedestrian comfort and interest.

 

Explanation and Examples
A wall may be considered "large" if it has a blank surface substantially greater in size than similar walls of neighboring buildings. Blank walls provide opportunities for defacement with graffiti.

The following examples are possible methods for treating blank walls:

  • installing vertical trellis in front of the wall with climbing vines or plants materials
  • setting the wall back and providing a landscaped or raied planter bed in front of the wall, including plant materials that could grow to obscure or screen the wall's surface
  • providing art (mosaic, mural, decorative masonry pattern, sculpture, relief, etc.) over a substantial portion of the blank wall surface
  • employing small setbacks, indentations, or other means of breaking up the wall's surface
  • providing special lighting, a canopy, horizontal trellis or other pedestrian-oriented features that break up the size of the blank wall's surface and add visual interest

 
<previous
D-1 Pedestrian Open Spaces
and Entrances		 next>
D-3 Retaining Walls

 

 

Last Updated: December 24, 2004