Atlanta Community Bridges the Gap Between Two Urban Spaces

2019 MFE Awards, Mid-Rise, Merit: Spoke ATL

2 MIN READ
Creative Sources Photography / Rion Rizzo

Spoke ATL, a transit-oriented development next to the Edgewood/Candler Park MARTA railway station in Atlanta’s Edgewood community, replaces an underperforming station parking lot with a bridge between two separated halves of the area’s urban fabric.

PROJECT DETAILS

Location: Atlanta
Developer: Columbia Ventures
Architect: JHP Architecture / Urban Design
Builder: Capstone Building
Interior Designer: CDG
Opened: December 2017
Number of units: 224
Unit mix: One- and two-bedrooms
Rents: $1,535 to $2,640

The community forms the first part of a three-phase development, originally conceived by developer Columbia Ventures in a deal with MARTA. To ensure that the project was ultimately in the community’s best interest, the development and design team conducted a series of meetings with nearly a dozen community groups, as well as professionals and stakeholders.

JHP Architecture / Urban Design envisioned the 224-unit project as a solution to a social problem— namely a large empty space between what the design team found to be “an amazing array of diverse communities.” Spoke not only provides an urban-style connection between these communities, but accommodates current and prospective residents, particularly professionals and families.

To reflect the community’s surroundings and varied adjacent properties, JHP Architecture / Urban Design broke the community mass down into a series of distinct component buildings, ranging up to six stories tall. On its east side, the building has a bent “three-over-two” design—three stories of dark gray exterior façades over two stories of light gray and white—that hugs the adjacent plaza and green space. To the south, facing single-family homes, the building is proportioned to resemble three-story rowhouses with a fourth-story rooftop terrace.

The north and west sides slope down to face the MARTA and an older multifamily project and feature two types of balconies—some with forward-slating solid faces and others set into the façade with full-height wooden screens to deflect rail noise.

Each of the one- to three-bedroom units features spacious living areas and floor-to-ceiling windows. Community amenities include a Peloton fitness center, a saltwater pool, a bark park, a sky lounge, and indoor bike storage.

  • About the Author

    Mary Salmonsen

    Mary Salmonsen is a former associate editor for Zonda and a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

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