31/01/2024
URBAN PICKET FENCES | RADU ARCHITECTS
Our take on bringing suburbia to the city! With the last few years of Covid, house sequestration, and the desire of a generation to work in their pajamas, coupled with the temptation of employers to pay as little as possible for office space, a tsunami level crisis has been created for commercial real estate in most large US cities. Years ago, we were one of the first firms to get involved in the large-scale downsizing of corporate offices. We designed flexible spaces, hoteling and whatever other catchy phrases became popular for downsizing. During the pandemic, there was a phase where everyone was thinking of going back to the old school office layouts, everyone in independent spaces so we don’t kill each other with whatever designer virus we were confronted with…..this period was short lived. For one reason or another, the regression did not materialize, and we ended up with less than half of commercial real estate occupied. Together, with a few of our clients, we started thinking about what can be done to reutilize these commercial buildings. This is how our new concept of the URBAN PICKET FENCE began! The basic idea was to transform these large office buildings into a self-contained development with all the amenities suburbia could provide, in a highly desired urban environment. The two-story house, with a garden, a sidewalk and your own, greatly coveted, car garage. All that with minimally expensive structural disruption. Below are some of our early ideas describing how this transformation could take place. People will not come back to work in the office any time soon, no incentive for employer or employee.
Why is the URBAN PICKET FENCE CONCEPT the future of commercial buildings in all large metropolitan cities?
• The occupancy of commercial buildings will not reach pre-pandemic occupancy (80% occupied).
• By decreasing the quantity of vacant workspaces, there will be an increased demand of quality workspaces.
• If these buildings could be transformed into suburban housing in the middle of the city, the potential development will be endless.
• This solution will provide an all-encompassing living universe with a private residence, private garage, indoor courtyard, plenty of storage, easily accessible workspace, retail, and leisure in one place!
• Only minimal structural changes are required to convert existing unutilized buildings to a marketable mixed-use space.
