Piedmont Avenue Apartments

Behind the lush trees along Piedmont Avenue sat a featureless and foreboding apartment building. Our task: transform this sad 1960s building into a friendly, attractive, safe and accessible home for the student population.

The original building design enclosed the courtyard behind a high slumpstone wall with inaccessible steps leading to a bare “prison-yard” court within.  To mitigate these conditions, we removed the wall and replaced it with a series of screens and a new entry sequence, providing security, visibility and improved accessibility.

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Finally, the central tower was adorned with a striking mural by artist Nikki McClure, offering organic, soft lines in contrast to the orthogonal building forms and fostering a vibrant sense of place.

The balcony rails and stair towers were opened up to allow natural light and airflow into circulation areas.