News and notes from Reston (tm).

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

New Lake Anne Renderings Feature a Mew, Whatever THAT Is

As the awesome Lake Anne redevelopment plan begins to wend its way through the county approval process, the developers have put together a slick new brochure of architectural renderings. And Lake Anne folks, sit down: YOU'RE GETTING A MEW:

Mew
Apparently a mew is "a cage or building for trained hawks, especially while they are molting." But mews are "a row or street of houses or apartments that have been converted from stables or built to look like former stables" or "a group of stables, typically with rooms above, built around a yard or along an alley." Since these townhouses will be converted from subsidized housing, not genteel horse stables or a rookery, we can see why the developers went to the Olde English for their description.

Speaking of which, we get our first glimpse of the subsidized units that will be part of the development as part of the county-brokered deal that eliminates the existing Crescent Apartments.

Affordable housing
Not bad, actually, though they appear to have the only surface parking in the entire development. Guess they don't want the poors to park their dented imports next to the BMWsFord Foci. And here's what the non-affordable midrise will look like:

Not Affordable Housing
Apparently, paying market rates gets you two materials on the facade, plus garage parking.

Then there's the "active adult" building that makes up the other half of a circle with the subsidized housing. It looks... pretty big.

Massing
But these circular buildings will be bisected by a nice-looking "central park."

New park
Our BFFs at Reston 2020 point out that "the plan appears generally devoid of recreational facilities, which is not satisfactory."

Along North Shore, these apparently mewless townhouses look pretty nice:

Townhouses
Closer to the existing Plaza, we get to see what the mixed-use space that will fill the current parking lot will look like:

New buiilding
This is really nice, particularly in the way it mirrors the existing commercial plaza, with the notable exception of the child-free children's fountain. Thoughtfully, the developers point out the Farmer's Market will have space within the open pedestrian space:

Farmers market
Of course, we love the little details of these renderings, and we couldn't help but notice a recurrent theme in the little CGI people that were added on to give the renderings "warmth," as those of us who are not architects like to say:

Get a Room
GEEZ GUYS GET A ROOM WILL YOU. Here's hoping a hotel is part of the development's mixed-use amenities.

The redevelopment proposal goes before the Reston Planning & Zoning Committee on October 20, followed by the DRB the next day. Then the Fairfax County Planning Commission hearing is scheduled for December 10, followed by the county Board of Supervisors on Jan. 13. While it isn't perfect, the development is clearly Reston-like in a lot of good ways. Here's hoping it stays that way as it wends its way through the approval process and the subsequent construction.

4 comments:

  1. Could it be that the couple on the left is the couple on the right, after a hilarious time travel mishap?

    MIND. BLOWN.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's right! It is there to indicate the time frame. By the time all this happens the couple on the left will look like the couple on the right. ;)

      Delete
  2. No recreation facilities? A couple of bocce courts, a dog park and a memorial garden will take care of that!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awright. Granny Porn Reston Style.

    ReplyDelete

(If you don't see comments for some reason, click here).