Market Value Design Competition

Charlottesville, Virginia

Downtown Charlottesville has experienced a renaissance. Responding to a public call to craft a vision for the future of an underutilized site, the City of Charlottesville sponsored a design competition to proactively investigate the best alternatives for development. The competition sought realistic, innovative models for mixed-use development that not only yield financial returns for future developers of the site but also provide a return on investment to the public by attending to issues of civic space, connectivity, affordable housing and green building.

JDD’s proposal focuses on the ways in which buildings and the natural environment can fuse seamlessly, creating low-impact, healthy living environments and sustainable outdoor spaces. Sustainable architecture must be achieved by approaching design holistically. Consideration for the building structure, together with living practices, can achieve a highly sustainable and low-impact environment that utilizes other systems in the city, creating a collaborative, functional network.